Love Darkness 3: Origins
by zeratulatb
Summary: Set 12 years prior to Love Darkness that shows the early lives of the gang; building up from their childhood, to early teens, to meeting each other for the first time, to going to Hollywood Arts together and the major life changes each of them will face and the choices they make, leading them to become who they are now. This is how it all began... This is the origins of love...
1. Prologue: Before the Darkness

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POV's when mentioned if any.**

**Prologue**

**Before the Darkness**

**No one's POV**

Before she was Tori Vega, she was Victoria Vega; before she was Jade West, she was Jadelyn West; before he was Robbie Shapiro, he was Robert Shapiro. Before he was Andre Harris, he was, well um, Andre Harris; before she was Cat Valentine, she was Caterina Valentine; before he was Beck Oliver, he was Beckett Oliver. Before the darkness, there was light. Before the love, there was nothing.

Victoria Vega wasn't always the ruthless backstabber who would do anything for love. She was kind and charismatic and was loved by everyone. Jadelyn West wasn't always the mean and distant Gothic, with a love for scissors. She was a sweet person who had a major life change. Robert Shapiro wasn't always the lame and annoying puppeteer who was glued to Rex Powers. He was a charming young boy who rarely used Rex and was changed forever by tragedy.

Andre Harris wasn't always a musical prodigy with a crazy grandmother. He had a loving family and his grandmother was sane and kind and he was not very good with music until tragedy struck, changing him and his grandmother forever. Caterina Valentine wasn't always the bubbly, dimwitted girl with red hair. She was a shy and nice little girl who had something dark happen to her and made her who she is now. And her hair was brown. Beckett Oliver wasn't always the smooth-talking Canadian with fluffy hair. He was a timid young boy without fluffy hair, who received inspiration from someone close to him.

Before the darkness; before Hollywood Arts High School; before they even met each other, they were strangers living ordinary lives, until they changed forever. They didn't even live in the same city, let alone near each other.

Twelve years ago, they were young children, whose lives were ahead of them and they could dream of their passions and love. Twelve years ago, it all began. Twelve years ago, there wasn't darkness. Twelve years ago, they didn't understand what love is and how it can change people and make them do dangerous things to loved ones. In fact, they didn't really understand a lot of shit. I mean, they were 4 and 5. So, uh, duh.

**The story of love beings in the year 2000. Victoria, Andre, Robert, and Beckett were 5 and Jadelyn and Caterina were 4 at the time. Trina was 6, but no one gives a fuck.**

**Victoria's POV**

_New Year's Day, 2000 Vega residence, Los Angeles, California._

I cheer loudly as the ball dropped and the year flashed brightly on the board. It is 2000. The start of a new decade and new century. I can't wait to see what will happen this year. Trina is hopping up and down like a maniac. Oh no, I think she drank too much of that bubbly stuff, I can't pronounce it yet. I just call in champags. Much easier than it's real name.

Mommy and Daddy let us stay up late to see the ball drop. They never let Trina and me to stay up on New Year's Eve in the past, but this year is special.

Mommy works as a Kindergarten teacher at the elementary school Trina and me attend. Daddy is a patrolman with the LAPD. Trina is kinda annoying, but she means well and is fun to play with. I'm kinda shy myself and don't talk too much.

I'm short and have unusual cheekbones. My hair is a light brown and I like it short. My brown eyes are innocent and lovely, as Mommy says. Trina is a full head taller than me, but Daddy says that I'll be taller than her in a few years. That will be fun, as I'll be able to tease her.

"Alright, kids, it's wayyy past your bedtimes; brush your teeth and go to bed." Mommy orders. Trina and I groan and march upstairs to our rooms. It'll be hard to fall asleep with all this energy I've got from partying. I didn't even have that champags; Daddy says I'm too young, but it annoys me that Trina can, and she's only a year older!

As I brush my teeth in my bathroom next to my room, I can't help but be excited about all the things that could happen to me this year. After brushing, I change into my pajamas and climb into bed. There are firecrackers going off outside the house from neighbors and it scares me a little. I squeeze my Cuddle Me Cathy doll tighter each time one goes off. Surprisingly, I drift off to sleep in a matter of minutes. This year will be fun.

**Robert's POV**

_New Year's Day 2000, Shapiro residence, Oakland, California._

"Bed time, Robbie." Daddy orders a few minutes after the New Year started.

"Don't call me that, I don't like it, daddy." I whine. I really hate Robbie, so annoying and stupid. Daddy laughs and ruffles my hair. He's in the Air Force and is a pilot. Mommy comes to me and pulls me in for a hug, which is hard because of her fat stomach. They told me that she is praygnaint or something like that. I say preggers. They told me I'll have a little baby brother or sister in 9 months. They gave me this news 4 months ago. Mommy has been acting weird during this time. It is a little scary with her being all happy one minute, to crying the next. Sometimes, she gets really angry over little things, and _that_ is terrifying.

I am short with curly black hair. Mommy says that I may need glasses in the future and that scares me. Daddy tries to get me in the sun as I'm kinda pale.

Daddy picks me up and takes me upstairs to my bedroom. I had brushed my teeth and changed into my pajamas like a good boy in time for the ball drop. I'm a little tired, as I never stayed up this late before. I'm just about asleep when he tucks me into bed and kisses my forehead. Eugh! Gross!

"Goodnight, son, see you tomorrow." He says.

"But, daddy, it is tomorrow." I state confused. He chuckles lightly and leaves, closing the door behind him. I pull my blankie up to my chin and drift into a peaceful sleep. I dream about what this year will show me.

**Jadelyn's POV**

_New Year's Day 2000, West residence, Pasadena, California._

I'm jumping up and down jubilantly as the bell dropped and 2000 started. It's amazing how a year can go by fast and then suddenly the last day and first day are the slowest. I never understood how that worked. Mommy and Daddy attempt to calm me down so that I can fall asleep. I try to, but it's hard! Daddy is a lawyer for a big firm and he is almost always busy, so it's hard for him to have time with me, but he spends his spare time with me all the time. Mommy just stays home with me, while daddy works. She's hoping to reenter the work world when I'm older.

"It's time for bed, kiddo." Mommy announces and I groan as I stop jumping. I hang my head and daddy raises it. I pout a little, begging him to let me stay up a _teeny_ bit longer. He chuckles and shakes his head as he knows what I'm doing and I don't even have to say anything.

"Sorry, sweetie, but you need your rest; this morning will be the start of one of the best years ever." He tells me.

"Really?" I ask, smiling a little.

"That's right, now brush your teeth and go to bed, mommy and I will be in to tuck you in soon."

"Mommy, do I have to?" I ask her. She is sitting at the table and she nods her head.

"Yes, Jadelyn." She replies.

"Aw, man." I groan as I head for my room. I change into my pajamas and go to the bathroom down the hall to brush my teeth. I study myself as I brush my teeth. I am unusually pale, with emerald eyes and shoulder-length light brown hair. After brushing my teeth, I go into my room and climb into my bed and wait until my parents come to tuck me in. They usually come in together and daddy pulls the sheets up to my chin and mommy will sing a short lullaby to me, which almost always knocks me out.

I wait for what seems like hours until I hear it. It sounds like shouting. I can't yet place who's doing the shouting, but I know it's coming from the kitchen. It gradually starts to get louder. I raise my hands and cover my ears as the shouting scares me and I don't like to hear it. Mommy and Daddy are shouting at each other again. They've been doing it a lot lately and whenever I try to talk to them about it, they tell me to leave them alone, and that I'm too young to understand. That hurts my feelings a lot.

The shouting continues until one in the morning and I am finally able to sleep. It was difficult because I was crying and silently begging them to stop. I am afraid of what will happen if I talk to them while they're shouting. They usually do it when they think I'm asleep. Neither of them came into my room to tuck me in, so I had to do it myself. I hope this morning will be better. Scratch that, I hope this year will be better than the end of last year.

**Andre's POV**

_New Year's Day 2000, Harris residence, Berkeley, California._

I am sooo happy right now! The New Year has begun finally. I can't wait to see what will happen this year. My family is equally excited too. Well, actually, they want me to go to bed now, so they're not currently excited. Aw, man this sucks. I hate being under 10! I bet that will all change in 4 years. Besides, I have way too much energy from all this partying now. It'll take a while before I get sleepy, let alone fall asleep altogether.

"Bed now Andre." Daddy orders.

"But-"I start.

"No but's young man." Mommy replies. Oh c'mon!

"Why?" I whine.

"You need your sleep and it's unhealthy to stay up late." Mommy explains. I groan and head for my bathroom to brush my teeth. I stare at myself after brushing. I have a buzz cut, but I want to let my hair grow out and see what I can do with it when I'm older. I'm short and skinny. Both my parents are dentists, so they are reaaaally strict about my oral hygiene as they call it. If they see a single crumb in my mouth, the world seems to end. They inspect my mouth every time after I clean my mouth.

After passing their inspection, I go into my room and change and climb into bed and fall asleep almost immediately. I dream sweet dreams and am eager to start a new year.

**Caterina's POV**

_New Year's Day 2000, Valentine residence, Burbank, California._

I am being carried to bed by mommy, while daddy carries Joey to his room opposite mine. We had a fun time partying the start of the New Year. Good thing I brushed my teeth and changed into pajamas before I fell asleep. I am tiny for my size and have long, chocolate brown hair. The brown is kinda boring and I want to dye it, but my parents won't let me. Not fair!

Joey is a little strange for his age. He's three years older than I am. He's kinda intelligent for his age and asks interesting questions a lot. I mean, a lot. Sometimes, I wish he would shut up.

Daddy is an engineer for some company and is busy most of the time, but he still has time to be with Joey and I. Mommy is a nurse who works at the nearby hospital and has long shifts on some nights.

Mommy tucks me in and kisses my forehead before leaving and closing the door behind me. Good thing I got a night light, because the dark scares me.

I wake up and open my eyes and see that it is almost completely dark in my room, except for the night light. I grab several of my stuffed animals that surround me on my bed and clutch them tightly.

"I'm under my bed." I announce quietly. Then I think about that. It's dark under my bed and there may be a monster under there too! I stifle a scream and nearly faint from fear. I cuddle closer to my animals. I am lucky to have fallen asleep. I have happy dreams and dream about what my life will show me this year. I am excited and scared at the same time.

**Beckett's POV**

_New Year's Day 2000, OIiver residence, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada._

I am tired! It has been a long day and night. Today was a really long one. My family had a cool celebration tonight. Well, I should say last night, as its past midnight now. I am brushing my teeth and I comb my hair afterwards. My black hair is short and rough. I want it to be nice and soft to touch. Daddy finds it funny, mommy thinks it's cute that I want fluffy hair. I really do!

I go to my room and change and go back to the living room to say good night to my family before I head in. Daddy is a surgeon who operates on the brain. That always scares me. I mean, who would want someone to mess with their brain? Not me, that's for sure! Mommy stays at home with me, but she will return to the work world once I'm older. I hope that's not too long from now. She seems to miss the work. Before I was born, she was an art teacher at the school I am attending and she is very talented. She sometimes makes beautiful pictures from plain boring white canvasses. She does sceneries and paintings of daddy and me. I love her work. Much better than brain operation! That always sends chills down my spine.

Mommy follows me and tucks me in before leaving. She and daddy go to sleep shortly after I do. As I lay in my bed, slowing drifting to sleep, I think about what this New Year will bring us and the adventures that will happen. I smile as I finally drift to sleep about what my future holds for me.

**No one's POV**

Little did the six sleeping youngsters, dreaming about their futures of the New Year, know was that the New Year would bring many changes and decisions that will shape and change them to become who they are now. The next twelve years will be adventurous and full of emotions as they very slowly, but surely delve into the darkness. The darkness of love. This is the origins of that darkness. This is how it all began so many years ago… This is the origins of love…

**zeratulatb presents:**

**A new VICTORiOUS Fanfiction:**

**Love Darkness 3:**

**Origins**

**Comment or review plz and you'll be rewarded to a preview of the next chapter; first come, first serve only though. ****The idea hit me like a speeding locomotive. I had a bee in my bonnet and well, here's the prologue for Love Darkness 3. THIS WON'T BE UPDATED UNTIL LOVE DARKNESS 2 IS COMPLETE. So, get pumped and annoyed while waiting for me. Sorry for the inconvenience. AND FOR FUCK'S SAKE, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Pretty please? I'll be your best friend!**


	2. All is Quiet

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POV's when mentioned if any.**

**Chapter 1**

**All is Quiet**

_New Year's Day morning. Saturday. 12 in the afternoon._

**Victoria's POV**

I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on my bedroom door. I stir and moan as they continue to knock.

"What?" I groan, my voice cracked from not being used in several hours.

"Its past noon, time to get up, ya bum." Mommy's voice comes from behind my closed door. I roll over to look at my alarm clock. Sure enough, it's past 12. Wow.

"Alright, I'm getting up." I moan. I try to throw my sheets off me, but I'm so tired that they don't go too far and I have to kick them off me. I put my feet over the edge of my bed and slip them into my fuzzy pink slippers. I yawn and stretch as I get out of bed. I grab my Cuddle Me Cathy doll and leave my room. I walk down the hall and I smell breakfast. Hmm, smells good. Smells like French toast. I love French toast.

I climb down the stairs slowly and I see my parents are working in the kitchen. Trina is nowhere to be seen.

"Morning." I announce as I finish climbing the last few steps. Mommy and daddy look around to see me coming towards them.

"Morning, sweetie." Daddy says as he walks over to me and embraces me in a tight hug. Ow!

"Too tight, daddy." I groan and he loosens up.

"Sorry. How'd you sleep?" he says as he lets me go and kisses me on the cheek.

"I slept well; those poppers scared me a little last night." I reply.

"You mean firecrackers?" mommy confirms.

"Yeah! Those things! They're sooo loud!" I moan, covering my ears lightly. They chuckle and daddy ruffles my already messy hair.

"Did you see Trina, honey?" Mommy asks. I shake my head and sit down at the table.

"I'll get her." Daddy says, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Breakfast is almost ready." Mommy tells me. I nod excitedly and run my tongue over my lips. Mommy caught me though. "That's not very lady-like, Vicki."

"I'm not a lady yet." I point out.

"You'll be one soon, so it's best to learn now." She replies. I nod, showing her I understand. She smiles at me.

I turn at the sound of footsteps and see daddy and Trina walking down the stairs together. Trina's hair is messier than mine and she looks really tired.

"Morning, honey." Mommy greets her eldest. Trina grunts in response and sits down across me at the table. I look at her worriedly. She looks like she didn't get much sleep.

"Are you alive?" I ask her, poking her leg with my foot. She doesn't respond. She is not a morning person.

"Not really." She mutters finally. I laugh a little and she glares at me. I look away.

Mommy and daddy finish making breakfast and they sit down with us with a platter of French toast and plates for us. We all dig in, except for Trina, who just sits there, trying to stay awake. I keep poking her legs with my feet, ignoring her protests. Daddy tells me to stop and I do. I shrug and keep eating. Trina eventually starts to eat and she has some toast along with us.

I'm glad the day has begun and I like how it is peaceful and quiet outside. No poppers or firecrackers or whatever you call them going off.

**Robert's POV**

"You alive in there?" Daddy asks as he continues to knock on my door.

"Sure?" I reply. I clear my throat and repeat it.

"Well, breakfast is ready; it's past 12, son." He replies. I rub my eyes and sit up. I look at my alarm clock and it is indeed past 12. Wow, I really slept in. I guess mommy and daddy did too a little.

I get out of bed and put my slipper son my bare feet and leave my room. I go into the kitchen where daddy is working over the stove at the pan. I smell eggs cooking. Mommy is sitting at the table reading the newspaper. She looks up when she hears me approaching.

"Good morning, Robert." She greets with a smile.

"Hi," I reply, sitting down at the table after getting kissed by her. Eugh.

"How'd you sleep, son?" Daddy asks from the stove.

"Ok, I guess." I reply.

"You guess you slept ok?" he asks.

"Well, I had good dreams."

"Good dreams are nice." Mommy says. I nod.

Daddy finishes cooking the eggs and dishes it out. I get a small plateful. Daddy and mommy split the rest between themselves. Mommy starts to eat the food the moment it is placed in front of her. Daddy and I watch her eat her food. She looks up and notices us staring at her. We shrug and start to eat our eggs. She gets really hungry because of her being preggers.

We eat our breakfast in silence mostly. We're hungry and well rested. I wonder what we'll do today; I want to start my New Year with a day to remember.

"Daddy, can we go to the park today, please?" I ask him, my mouth full with eggs, which spray from my mouth as I talk.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth; it's rude and disgusting." He tells me. I swallow my mouthful of eggs, officially finishing my breakfast.

"Sorry; but can we, please?"

"Sure, if that's fine with you, dear?" Daddy replies, looking at mommy, who went back to reading the newspaper after she finished her breakfast.

"Yeah, go and have fun you two; I'll be fine." Mommy replies, lowering the paper to smile at me. I clap my hands excitedly. She chuckles and ruffles my hair a little. Daddy and I clean the dishes and spend the afternoon at the park near our house. We chased each other, played catch, and I went on the swings and he pushed me for a while. I enjoyed my day with him. He had a lot of fun too. The park was pretty quiet too. In fact, daddy and I were the only ones there. I enjoyed myself. This year is going to be great, I just know it.

**Andre's POV**

I am awoken by my parents shaking me. I finally open my eyes and see them both standing over me.

"What?" I groan as my eyes close again.

"Its past noon; time to get up." Mommy says. I groan again in response.

"We made you chocolate pancakes." Daddy said. My eyes open up quickly.

"Really?" I ask, smiling. They nod. "Ok, I'll get up." They smile and leave the room. I put on my slippers and run out of my room to the kitchen downstairs. I almost fall down the steps though. Mommy told me not to and I apologized.

I sit at the table and sure enough, there's a plate with a chocolate pancake on it. There's that white, whipped stuff in the form of a smiley face on top. I can never remember what it's called, but it's really tasty!

We eat our breakfast and discuss the day's plans. We are going to stay inside and play games together. Yay! I love to play games! I really like that Apples to Apples game. I like apples a lot, so that game is even more fun to play.

The moment I finish my tasty pancake, mommy and daddy tell me to brush my teeth. I do so and I pass their inspection after I finish.

We play several games of Apples to Apples. We also play a little bit of operation, with mommy and daddy carefully watching me. They don't want me to touch the tiny parts, saying that I'll eat them. I don't want to, they look like they'll taste nasty. Why would I eat a wrench anyways?

I had a fun time playing games with them. We had a good time. I am excited for the New Year. It started off great.

**Caterina's POV**

Joey and I are dragged from our beds to eat breakfast with mommy and daddy. They made waf-waff-waffs. I can't say it right yet. It's hard to say! Joey tries to help me though.

"Wah-fulls." He says slowly.

"Way-fools." I reply. He shakes his head.

"Wah-fulls."

"Wah-fools." I say again. He shakes his head again.

"Wah-fulls." He repeats.

"Wah-fulls." I say. He smiles and hugs me. Yay! I did it right. Mommy and daddy smile at me for saying it right. They serve the wah-fulls and we eat in silence as the warm food fills us up. I smile with each bite I take. They are soo yummy!

Later, Joey and I play some soli-tear in the living room. I can't say that one yet either. He later tells me a po-uhm. What's a po-uhm?

"Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you." He says. I smile at it! How cool! He then looks weird and turns to mommy, who was sitting in the chair, watching us. "Mommy, why are violets blue? Violet is purple isn't it?"

"You know, I'm not sure why they are called that, Joey." She replies with a weird look on her face.

"But I like his po-uhm." I say. They both smile at me. Joey ruffles my hair. "Hey!"

"What?" he asks, looking at me innocently.

"You ruffled my hair." I pout, putting my hands on top of my hair to demonstrate.

"And?"

"I don't like that." I reply.

"I'm sorry, Kitty." Whoa! Why did he call me that? That scares me!

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I ask loudly, scared. His eyes widen and mommy looks at us.

"Joey, what did you say?" she asks him.

"I called her 'Kitty'," he says, innocently.

"Why did you call me that?!" I shout at him.

"Caterina, lower your voice." Mommy orders.

"It's a nickname; you know, something people can call you, without using your name." he explains. Oh! I get it!

"I like it." I reply, smiling at him. He returns my smile and I hug him. He kisses my cheek too. Eww! Cooties!

**Jadelyn's POV**

I wake up at a little past 12. I was expecting mommy or daddy to wake me up. I wonder if they forgot. I sit up and stretch. I had a good sleep. I wish I didn't hear them screaming at each other. I whimper a bit and I can still hear their loud voices in my head.

I have this weird feeling in my body. I can't place it, but it worries me a bit. Like I know something bad is going to happen.

I carefully put my slippers on and walk out of my room. It's quiet in the house. Like, really quiet. I go into the kitchen and no one is there.

"Mommy? Daddy?" I call. My voice repeats in the house. I look around the house some more, becoming scared. Where are they at?

I return to the kitchen, tears falling from my eyes as I can't find my mommy and daddy. That's when I noticed the paper on the table. I pick it up and look at it. There's these…squiggles on it. It's hard for me to figure out what it says. I've been learning to read and write. Mommy's been helping me with it for a couple of years now.

_Jadelyn,_

_ Your father and I are out shopping. We should be home soon. Make yourself a bowl of cereal and try not to break anything._

_ Mommy._

I put the paper back down on the table. How long have they been gone? Why couldn't they wake me up before Why would they leave me here? I'm so scared!

I'm not hungry at all. I don't feel like eating at all. I want them here with me. I want to try to talk to them about their screaming last night.

I run back into my room and close the door. I get into my bed and pull the sheets to my chin and hold onto my special blankie tightly waiting for them to come home. I look at my alarm clock next to my bed and watch as the time goes by. 12:30, 1:00, 1:54, 2:23, 3:00. Where are they?! I'm so scared right now! I start crying and I stay hidden under my sheets, my blankie still in my hands.

**Beckett's POV**

"Beckett, Le petit déjeuner est prêt; réveiller maintenant." A voice comes from behind my bedroom door. I'm awake and it's past 12 in the afternoon. I look at the door, playing the weird words that I just heard in my mind.

"Huh?" I ask.

"Breakfast is ready; wake up now." The voice repeats. I realize its daddy's voice. But what was he saying?

"Ok, I'm coming now." I reply and I get out of bed and put my slippers on. I walk out of my room and go into the kitchen, where mommy and daddy are at. They're both sitting at the tables, eating breakfast. Breakfast looks like scrambled eggs. Yum! Mommy and daddy turn when they see me coming.

"Morning, Beckett," mommy greets, giving me a warm hug. I sit down next to daddy, where a plate of eggs is waiting. I eat my warm breakfast while they talk about the day's plans.

They say that we should go to the park and have a pick-nick. Oooh! I don't know what a pick-nick is, but it sounds fun!

"What's a pick-nick?" I ask after I finish my eggs.

"A picnic is when you go outdoors and eat a meal, usually sandwiches in a grassy area." Mommy explains.

"I like that!" I exclaim, a big smile on my face. They chuckle and daddy ruffles my hair a bit.

Sometime later, mommy made sandwiches for us and packed them in some sort of container that feels really weird. She says it's called a basket. Huh.

We then get into the car sometime after that and daddy drives us to the park nearby. Mommy packed a large blankie with us.

We get to the park and we go to a spot under a large, uh, tree, I think it's called. Mommy sets the blankie on the ground and we sit down on it and daddy opens the basket thingy and takes out our food and some water and hands them to us.

We eat our sandwiches and play with a flying disk. I call it that, since its real name is really hard to say. We had a fun time playing in the park with each other and we go home on a happy note. Well, I was actually sad that we weren't there all day, but I still had fun. Mommy promised to make me hot chocolate when we got home.

She did.

**No one's POV**

Despite the previous night being loud and energetic for the children, their first day in the new millennia was relatively normal, except for Jade's of course. Their first major challenge would soon be upon them. But how will they react to something so sudden and changing? Will it make things better or worse?

**Chapter 1. Comment or review plz and you'll be rewarded to a preview of the next chapter; first come, first serve only though. Yes, if you're reading this, Love Darkness 2 is done. I have not a single clue how long I'll make this one. I'll be covering a lot of shit. It may be well over 50 chapters long. This will be one helluva project. Not that I don't like to be challenged. I'll try to have the dates in the story to match real life. Yes, you can do that. I'm going to have to ask for your patience and understanding as I write this fanfic. I won't scrap this one together in a month like I did with Love Darkness 2. It may not be finished until well into next year. Thanks and keep on reading.**


	3. Situation

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POV's when mentioned if any.**

**Chapter 2**

**Situation**

**Caterina's POV**

_Monday, January 3__rd__. 2 PM. Valentine residence._

I just got back home after my first day back from school after winter break. I am almost finished with kindergarten. Joey is almost finished with second grade. Joey and I take the bus to and from school.

Mommy is home, waiting for us. She is sitting at the kitchen table with some papers. Joey and I run to her once we get inside the house after Joey lets us in with his key.

"Mommy!" I greet with a large smile on my face as I run to her. She chuckles and turns to me, with her arms wide open and she hugs me when I reach her.

"Hey sweetie, how was your first day back?" she asks me.

"It was fun! We did some coloring and nap time and the ABC's." I tell her excitedly, jumping up and down. She laughs at my giddiness and hugs me again. Joey tells her about his day when he comes in the kitchen to hug her as well.

"So, I wanted to talk to you two about something very important." Mommy says. Joey and I look at each other. Usually it's pretty serious when she says it like that.

"What is it, mom?" Joey asks.

"We're going to be moving to LA this weekend." Mommy says.

"What's LA? I ask.

"Los Angeles, a city nearby." Joey replies. Oh.

"How come we're moving, mommy?" I ask her. She lets out a breath and rubs her eyes a bit.

"Your father's being transferred to another department for his job." Mommy explains.

"A transfer, Kitty is moving from one place to another in work." Joey explains. I nod, showing I understand him. Mommy smiles at him.

"We move this weekend." Mommy says.

"That soon?" Joey asks. She nods.

**Andre's POV**

_Wednesday, January 5__th__. Harris residence._

"We're doing what now?" I ask her. She said something about moving, but I don't think I heard her correctly.

"We're moving, Andre." Mommy repeats.

"Why? I thought we liked it here?" I ask.

"I'm pregnant and we need a bigger place for the baby." She replies. She's what?

"What's pregnant mean?" I ask her.

"It means, you're going to have a little brother or sister sometime this year." She replies, smiling. Oh.

"When do we move, mommy and baby?" I ask her, or them. She chuckles lightly and hugs me. I hug her back, but I stare at her. Where will the baby come from? I don't think I wanna know!

"We're moving at the end of next week. We're going to live in Los Angeles. Your father and I have already found a place and it's near a dental office for us to work at." She replies.

"I don't like dentists." I whisper. I reaaaally don't. But don't tell her I said that!

"I heard that, young man." She says. Uh oh!

"Sorry," I say with a bright smile. She smiles back at me and hugs me again. Maybe this won't be so bad.

**Robert's POV**

_Saturday, January 8__th__. 3 PM. Shapiro residence._

"Why are we moving again?" I ask daddy. He broke me this news earlier this week. We move next weekend. But, I still don't know why.

"We need a bigger house for us. This home is too small for you and the baby."

"But the baby isn't here yet. Is it?" I say.

"Not for a few more months, but it's best to move now while it's easier for your mother."

"Where are we going to live now?" I ask.

"LA." Mommy says. I look at her. What does that mean? LA?

"Los Angeles; it's not far from where we live now and we'll be moving into a much bigger place now." Daddy adds.

"Will it be bad for the baby?" I ask. "Does mommy have to stay here to have it?"

"No, she doesn't have to stay here to have the baby. Babies can be born anywhere." Daddy says with a little chuckle.

"Thanks for the concern though, sweetie." Mommy says, ruffling my hair. I smile widely as she does that.

**Beckett's POV**

_Sunday, January 2__nd__. 11 AM. Oliver residence._

"I don't want to move!" I shout at daddy.

"We want to move and start a new life, Beckett." He tells me.

"I don't wanna!" I shout again.

"Keep your voice down." He says. I shake my head.

"Beckett, this will be a fun experience for you; you'll be able to meet new friends and have a fun life in Los Angeles." Mommy tries. I shake my head again, tears coming in my eyes.

"NO!" I shout at her.

"Don't talk to your mother like that, young man!" Daddy shouts at me and I whimper and take a step back.

"Sorry, mommy," I whimper at her, avoiding her gaze.

"It's ok, you're just scared of change is all." She replies, hugging me.

"When do we leave?" I ask.

"This Friday. It's going to take two to three days to drive down there." Mommy replies. Wha? Two to three days? That's a loong drive!

**Jadelyn's POV**

_Sunday, January 2__nd__. 10 AM West residence._

Mommy and daddy finally came home last night around 7. I was still in my room. I had cried myself to sleep and was awoken by mommy. I cried into her arms when she woke me. She tried to soothe me and it somehow helped. I was so scared last night. Mommy said they went shopping and lost track of time.

I didn't believe her for some reason that I can't understand. She was lying to me and I wanted to know why. Mommy and I leave my room and go into the kitchen, where daddy was putting away food. Mommy went to help him as I sat down at the table. I sniffled some more as I watched them moving around the kitchen, ignoring me. Time to change that.

"Mommy, why are you lying?" I asked her as she closed the freezer door. She and daddy turned to look at me, weird looks on their faces.

"What are you talking about, Jadelyn?" she asked me.

"Where were you two? You scared me." I replied.

"We went shopping." Daddy answered.

"All day?" I asked.

"Yes, all day; are you feeling well, Jadelyn?" Mommy replied.

"No! You scared me! I was alone all day!" I shouted at them. I then got up and ran back into my room and stayed there for the rest of the day. Mommy came and tried to talk to me, but I told her to leave me alone and she did.

Now it's the next morning. I'm sooo hungry from not eating anything yesterday. I get up and leave me room. I go into the kitchen, where they both are sitting, having breakfast and drinking that dark liquid. Mommy calls it coffee and I want to try some, but she won't let me.

Mommy and daddy looked up at me when I walked into the kitchen. They said 'good morning' to me, but I ignored them and got a bowl from the cupboard thingy. I had to use a chair to reach for the bowls. They didn't even help me. Oh, I hope they're not mad at me. I can't take being scared any more.

I put the chair back and grabbed some cereal for myself and I sat at the table and ate my cold food quickly. I was really hungry.

I finished my cereal and I looked up to see mommy and daddy looking at me.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask quietly, sinking in my seat a little so that I appear shorter than I already am. They looked at each other, before looking back at me.

"We're not mad at you, Jadelyn; you didn't do anything." Daddy replies.

"But I called mommy a liar yesterday." I reply, sinking lower into my seat.

"Oh, honey you didn't call me a liar, you were just scared is all." Mommy replies.

"Please don't be mad at me." I beg her.

"I'm not mad at you." She says. I raise up in my seat a bit so that I'm almost sitting straight up.

"We need to tell you something though, Jadelyn." Daddy says. I look up at him. He lets out a breath and looks at me in the eyes. "We're moving." What does he mean by that?

"Moving?" I ask.

"We're moving to a new house." Mommy says. "That's what your father and I were doing all day yesterday, looking for a new house and we found one."

"Why are we moving?" I ask.

"I got a new job at a bigger law firm and I need to be closer to the office." Daddy replies.

"Where are we going to live now?" I ask, a little scared. I like my house. I've lived here my whole life and I'm only 4 years old.

"Los Angeles." Mommy replies.

"Where's that?" I ask.

"It's a city pretty close to where we live now." Daddy says.

"I don't want to move." I say.

"We have to Jadelyn. I know how you're feeling, but we have to. You'll be facing a lot of choices in your life and that means you'll have to sacrifice something important for something more important." Mommy says.

"What does sacr-sacrif-"I start to ask, but I can't pronounce that word yet.

"Sacrifice. It means to give up something important for others." Mommy tells me. Oh.

"What will happen to me?" I ask. I'm starting to get a little scared again.

"You'll be given new opportunities, or choices, and you'll make new friends." Daddy replies.

"When are we moving?"

"End of next week."

"What's gonna happen?" I ask. I want to know more.

"We'll be packing up all our belongings and making the move and it'll be fun." Mommy says, smiling at me. I smile back. I'm not sure how I should take this news.

**Victoria's POV**

_Monday, January 3__rd__. 4 PM. Vega residence._

"Girls! Come down here, please!" Mommy's voice comes from downstairs. I run out of my room and almost slam into Trina who leaves her room at the same time. We look at each other and go downstairs together.

Mommy is in the living room, sitting at the couch. She has a big smile on her face. She turns when she hears us coming.

"What is it, mommy?" Trina asks.

"Come sit down." She replies, pointing to the couch. I look nervously at Trina, who shrugs. We move to sit down next to mommy on the couch. Mommy turns to face us. "Guess what?" she asks, happily.

"We're going to the zoo!" I say, happily. She shakes her head. Aw, man!

"The park?!" Trina says. Mommy shakes her head again.

"What is it, mommy?" I ask this time.

"Your father just called; he got promoted at work!" mommy says happily.

"What does promoted mean?" Trina asks. I nod.

"He gets a better job than he does know at the department." Mommy replied.

"What is he going to do now?" I ask.

"He's a detective starting next week!"

"Huh?" Trina and I say at the same time.

"He gets to solve cases now, but he's not yet trained; he only just passed the exam required to become one." Mommy explains.

"Ooh, that sounds fun! But isn't it…dangerous?" I ask.

"It can be a little dangerous, yes, but he's always cautious."

"Huh?" Trina asks.

"He's careful with danger." Mommy explains.

"Oh. But what will happen now?" Trina asks.

"Well, he starts training and soon he'll be working to solve crimes other people cause against other people." Mommy explains. Trina and I smile. Daddy always liked working as a po-lease afficer.

"Yay for daddy!" I squeal happily and I jump up and hug mommy who hugs me back. Trina whines a little and joins us in our big hug. While, I'm happy for daddy; I'm a little scared as well. I can tell from Trina's face that she is too. I think mommy is as well, but she isn't saying anything about it. I hope daddy will be ok. No one better mess with him now or you have to answer to me!

**No one's POV**

How does one truly react to moving? For Victoria and Trina, they wouldn't react as they would never move, but news of David's promotion does scare them. Patrolman to detective is quite the step up. For the other's, it's a whole new situation. And it is not a song. It is the start of something that they would become a part of in the future, whether they want to or not. Their future has begun and none of them are prepared for what's coming.

**Chapter 2. Comment or review plz and you'll be rewarded to a preview of the next chapter; first come, first serve only though. The song I was referring to was Yaz's Situation, a classic song. Check it out, it's got a pretty good beat to it.**


	4. The Next Chapter

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POV's when mentioned if any.**

**Chapter 3**

**The Next Chapter**

**Andre's POV**

_Moving day. Saturday, January 15__th__. 12 PM. Harris residence._

Do you know what today is? It's a Saturday. But it's a special Saturday. Today we move from our current house to our new house. Berkeley to Los Angeles is a six hour drive daddy tells me. Oh, boy will this be fun.

We packed most of our things last night. Mommy and daddy move the furniture into the large moving truck this morning. I don't know how I can help. They move the bigger stuff and every time I try to help with the smaller things, they take whatever I'm holding and tell me to stay out of the way. That really hurts. I wanna help.

They manage to pack everything into the truck though. I am sad that I couldn't help them. I'm also sad that we're moving.

It's now almost 1 in the afternoon. We are ready to go to LA now. We check to make sure we got everything and leave the house and get in the large truck. Daddy starts the truck and we drive away from our old house onto our future in LA.

Mommy packed some crayons and paper for me to draw with. She hands me paper on a piece of wood with a large silver holding-thingy on it. I don't know what it's called, but that silver thing is hard to move!

While I drew on the paper with my crayons, mommy gives daddy directions to get to LA. I sometimes look up to look out the windows to see where we are. When I first looked, we were on the streets, where there was a lot of cars. The next time I looked, we were on the road but it was long and there weren't as many cars. The next few times I looked, we were still on this road.

We were on this road for a very long time. I would look at the clock inside the truck. When we left the house it was 1:04. It's now 5:12. We've been on this road for over four hours. My eyes widen, as that is a long time. Well, at least that means that we are almost at our new house in LA. I smile as I am excited to see our new home.

A couple hours later, we arrive at our new house. It's a two story grey house with dark blue trimming. Daddy parked the truck in the driveway thingy and turned the truck off. We all leave the truck and go inside after daddy unlocked the front door.

It's a cool place. I look around and find a nice big bedroom. Mommy and daddy tell me that it's the master bedroom for them.

"No fair!" I groan as I leave the room. I look around some more and find another bedroom. It's not as big as the master, but it's still very nice. This one's mine! I shut the door before they can try to take it from me. I look around the room. It's blue and has blue carpeting. How original. I think I'll outgrow the blue very fast.

I think I'll enjoy this place. I can already imagine my future here.

**Robert's POV**

_Moving day. Saturday, January 15__th__. 1 PM. Shapiro residence._

I am watching mommy and daddy pack stuff into the large moving truck. Daddy doesn't want mommy to do too much because of her stomach being kinda big. I helped a little. Mommy sometimes had to take a little break from all the lifting.

One time I went to her as she sat down on a chair outside. I walked up to her.

"Are you ok, mommy?" I ask her. She then starts to cry, scaring me. What did I say? "Why are you crying, mommy? Did I say something wrong?" I ask her, tears starting to form in my own eyes. She sniffles a bit and wipes her eyes. She looks at me and gives me a watery smile.

"No, honey; it's just these hormones acting crazy." She says, with a sniff.

"What are hormones?" I ask, confused.

"They control the body and its actions." She replies.

"I don't get it." I tell her. She chuckles a little.

"That's ok, it's a little difficult to understand now, but you'll know when you're older." She replies.

"Ok."

We finish packing and a little past two, we leave our house one last time. We have a long dive ahead of us. It's at least 6 hours long. Oh, boy this will suck. At least I'll have something to do during the ride.

Daddy drives as mommy reads me stories. After finishing all the stories an hour or so later, I do some coloring with the packed crayons and papers. I soon get bored and decide to take a little nap. I don't think we're even halfway there when I got bored with coloring.

When I wake up, we are pulling into the driveway of our new house. I sit up and rub the sleep out of my eyes and look at the new house. It's a two story white house with brown trimmings. I don't really like the colors that much, but I'm sure we'll paint it soon.

We go inside the house where we take a little tour. I go upstairs after getting bored with downstairs and look for a bedroom to take. I find a bedroom at the end of the hall and go inside. It's a small room with a window and a large closet. It's a nice looking room. The walls are dark blue and the ceiling is, you guessed it, white. The floor is like the rest of the upstairs hallway, grey carpeting. I take my shoes and socks off and walk around the room barefoot. I like the way the carpet tickles my toes. I lie down on the floor and roll around it. It feels really soft. I can't help but smile.

This is going to be a fun time living here. I just know it.

**Jadelyn's POV**

_Moving day. Saturday, January 15__th__. 2 PM. West residence._

I wonder if I'll like Los Angeles. Mommy and daddy have told me how it's a nice place to be. Mommy told me once that Los Angeles is where movies are made. That sounds pretty cool! There's also some good schools there that I'll be going to.

We have spent all last night and early this morning packing our things. Mommy helped me pack my clothes. Daddy made some sandwiches for us to eat before we leave. We have a short drive to our new house in LA. Daddy says that we should be there in 30 or so minutes. That is pretty cool. I don't like driving over long distances, I can get bored easily.

We have a quick lunch and leave our house for the last time and climb into the moving truck. Daddy drives us to our new home in LA. It takes us 35 minutes to drive to our new home.

I gasp as I see the house. It's huge! It must be at least three stories tall! Maybe not, but it's still tall! It's a dark blue with brown trimming. The colors look weird, but I like it still.

I'm hopping up and down in my seat to see the new house.

"Easy, Jadelyn." Daddy tells me, smiling at my excitement.

"Hurry _up_ daddy, I wanna see it!" I tell him, pouting slightly. He chuckles as he parks the truck in the driveway. I think that's what it's called. We all get out of the truck and I run up to the front door. I urge them to hurry it up so we can tour it. Plus, I need to pee, badly!

After doing my business in the bathroom upstairs, I wander the upstairs hallway and I go to the end and open the door. It's a room, with white walls and a white ceiling. The floor is brown carpeting. It has a window opposite of the door. There's a large closet next to the door. I think I'll take this room for myself. It's closer to the bathroom anyways.

This room is a keeper.

**Beckett's POV**

_Moving day. Friday, January 7__th__. 3 PM. Oliver residence._

I got back home from my last day of school here in Canada. Mommy picked me up and drove us back home, where a large moving truck is in front of our house. She and daddy spent the entire day packing all of our belongings while I went to school to say my goodbyes. I'll miss feeferdoon and my good friend, Moose.

Mommy told me last night that it a 19 hour drive from here to LA. That's a reallly long drive! We packed several activities to do when we drive down to our new home. We packed some crayons and paper, a few books for me to read, and the cards from Apples to Apples. If the drive will be long and boring, I wanna have some fun at least.

We're going to go for at least seven hours today and stay at a motel for the night. Then, eat breakfast the next morning and continue on the road until nighttime and stay at a motel again. Then, the next morning we'll drive the rest of the way and be at our new home in LA before nightfall.

We have a little lunch of sandwiches that daddy made. After finishing, we make sure we packed everything and we then leave the house for the last time. We all climb into the moving truck. Well, I was helped into the large truck. Daddy went behind the wheel and turned the truck on.

We start our long journey to LA. Mommy reads me a story while daddy drives and I fall asleep almost immediately.

I wake up several hours later by mommy. I open my eyes slowly and see that it's nighttime. I see the bright light of a motel sign. Mommy picks me up and carries me into the motel and follows daddy to our room.

We enter the room and mommy has me brush my teeth real quick. I do so and I climb into one of the beds. Mommy and daddy tuck me in and kiss me goodnight and they take the other bed for themselves. They are looking very tired. I quickly fall asleep.

I wake up to the smell of eggs and English muffins. I open my eyes and see daddy and mommy eating breakfast on the bed next to me and looking at something on the bed, but I can't see what it is.

"Morning," I say. They both look at me and smile.

"Morning, sleepyhead. How'd you sleep?" Mommy asks. I groan to answer her and she laughs a little. "Well, come and eat breakfast. Your daddy and I are making plans for our journey to LA."

"Ok, and?" I ask as I get out of bed and get in bed with them and take a muffin for myself from a plate. The thing on the bed that I couldn't see is a map. I think that's what it's called.

"We can cover most of the ground today and be in California tonight." Daddy explains. I nod as I chew on my breakfast.

We finish our breakfast and leave the motel after daddy paid for the room. Mommy drives this time, as daddy and I play a few rounds of Apples to Apples. Afterwards, he reads to me and I fall asleep yet again.

I am awaken and it's nighttime. We are at another motel and daddy carries me to our room. He tucks me into bed after I brush my teeth and he and mommy take the bed next to me and I fall asleep.

I wake up and have a bowl of cereal. Yummy! Mommy tells me we are in northern California, and at least 5 hours from our new home in LA.

Daddy drives us through California on our way to our new home. Instead of reading or playing with mommy, I stare out the window, looking at the cities we pass through. This place is very cool looking. I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy living here. Mommy and daddy gasp at the sights they see, pointing out places and stuff. I smile. They'll love living here too.

We arrive in LA after 4 hours and eventually come up to our future home a few minutes after that. I look at my new home, my eyes wide. It's a light brown, with a darker brown trimming. It's two stories tall and has a wide driveway.

Daddy parks the truck and turns it off and we all hop out of the truck and go to the front door of our new home. Mommy unlocks the door and opens it up and we all walk inside.

It's a very nice place. I said 'hello' a few times and my voice repeated a few times. Mommy said it was an echo of my voice. We go upstairs to find the bedrooms. I find one opposite theirs and go inside. It's a grey room with brown tile flooring. I'll take this one!

I explore the room and I think I'll have fun being here.

**Caterina's POV**

_Moving day. Saturday, January 8__th__. 1 PM. Valentine residence._

I am so sad today! Today is our moving day. Moving is scary and I don't really want to, but mommy and daddy say we have to. Joey kept me company all day and played with me, while mommy and daddy moved the bigger stuff into the large moving truck. Joey and I helped a little bit earlier today with packing our clothes. Well, Joey helped me packed my clothes.

We have a short drive from here to our new home in LA. Joey told me it was around 30 minutes of driving, which is pretty close. It won't be long until we are in our new home, unpacking everything.

We have a small lunch and walk around the house once last time. I think about how this is going to be the start of something big for me and my family. This house held our origins, now our new house will hold our futures.

We leave a little past two in the afternoon. Daddy drives the moving truck there.

We arrive in 32 minutes to our new home in LA.

Wow, that was fast.

Daddy parks the truck in our new driveway. Our new house is brown, with black trimming. It's two stories tall and has several windows. It's a cool looking place. I can't wait to see the inside of course.

We all exit the truck and daddy, using his new set of keys, opens the front door to our new home and leads us inside.

We are inside the living room. It's a lot bigger inside than it is outside. Well, it's because there is nothing inside pretty much. That'll change in a couple of hours.

We tour the house and Joey and I pick out our bedrooms. It's a really nice place. I think we'll enjoy living here. I know I will. I find the bathroom pretty quickly too.

Over the next several hours, we all start unpacking our stuff. It feels weird. It's like we just packed it and now we're unpacking it. I unpack my clothing in my new bedroom. It's a small room, next to Joey's, with a small window and a good sized closet.

I will enjoy living here for a very long time.

**Victoria's POV**

_David's first day as a detective. Monday, January 10__th__ 9 AM. Vega residence._

Trina, mommy, and I are waiting downstairs for daddy to come down. We are going to give him a big hug and wish him lots of luck on his first day as a detec-thingy.

Daddy comes down in a suit instead of a patrolman uniform that he wore for so many years. He sees us and smiles at us. Trina and I then run up to him and give him a biiiig hug. He hugs us back and laughs as we almost knock him over. Mommy comes over too and hugs him as well.

"I'm so proud of you." She says to him.

"I know; you showed that the past few nights." He grins. Mommy's face turns a little red. What does he mean by that? I'm confused. Trina and I look at each other, confused. We shrug and look back up at them.

"Not in front of the children." She says, tilting her head towards Trina and me. Daddy chuckles and kisses her. Trina and I gag and they stop and smile down at us.

"Well, I gotta go. Got a big day ahead of me." Daddy says and he hugs us all in one big group hug. "Not sure when I'll be home tonight."

"Have a great day, honey; be careful." Mommy says to him. He nods and smiles and leaves. We stand there, staring at the closed front door.

Daddy will be ok, I just know it. I hope.

**No one's POV**

The youngsters have just started the first of many days of what will be the most challenging days of their lives. Will this be the time of their lives or the worst thing that'll happen to them?

**Chapter 3. Comment or review plz and you'll be rewarded to a preview of the next chapter; first come, first serve only though. I tell ya, writing from the POV of a 4 and 5 year old is harder than it seems. I'll manage though. I'll have some chapters involve all of the main characters as they face the major life changes and the results of those changes. However, some chapters will be about a specific character as they face a specific challenge. If the disclaimer says POV's when mentioned, blah, blah, it's a major life change. If the disclaimer has a character name, it'll be a specific challenge. I'll be mixing and matching.**


	5. Adjustments

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POV's when mentioned if any.**

**Chapter 4**

**Adjustments**

_Monday, January 17__th__. LA Elementary._

**Victoria's POV**

It's been a week since daddy's first day as a detec-thingy. That word is harder to pronounce than I thought, but mommy's been helping me. I almost got it though! His first week was a nightmare for him. He wouldn't come home until late at night. I mean, we wouldn't see him until the next morning kind of late. Anyways, I'm at school in class, waiting for this day to be over already. I hate Mondays! I just thought I'd let you in on that. Then again, who doesn't hate Mondays? Even mommy and daddy, who drink a lot of coffee, can't stand Mondays.

Finally the bell rings to signify recess. The entire class jumps up in excitement and we all rush out of the cafeteria to the playground to play. Recess is only 30 minutes long, so we want to make the most of it. The faster we get outside, the more playtime we have.

The teachers always shout at us to slow down, but we simply ignore them. They are really strict about us running on the concrete outside. Whatever, just get outta the way so we can play! A lotta us like to race to the swing sets to get on. Those swings are addicting for some reason and there's only six swings.

With the swings quickly taken by others, I decide to go to the slides. That's when I bumped into someone running wildly. We both land on the sand and groan.

"Careful where you're going!" I moan as I stand up, rubbing my back from hitting the sand. It might be soft to touch, but it's still pretty rough and solid. I look at who ran into me and it's a kid I've never seen before. He's short like me and has curly black hair. He gets up and brushes the sand off him and looks at me nervously.

"Sorry, got too excited." He says.

"As long as we're not hurt." I point out and he nods.

"I'm Robert." He introduces himself holding out a hand. I take it and shake it with a smile.

"Victoria, nice to meet you, Robbie." I reply. He smile drops. _Uh oh._

"I like to be called Robert. Robbie sounds stupid." He says. _Yeah, it kinda does._

"Ok, sorry Robert." I reply, offering him a smile.

"No problem, Victoria; sorry for bumping into you." He says and he departs again. _Aw, what a sweet kid._ I think and whoa!_ Sweet kid? Did I call that boy sweet?_ I think horrified as my hands go to grasp the sides of my head. _No, I didn't; I'm just thinking it, but still I think he's sweet?!_ What's going on here? I don't think boys are sweet! They're gross with their snot and their cooties and their- eugh! I think I might need to see the doctor if I think boys are sweet know. I'll talk to mommy and daddy today. Uh, probably just mommy. I don't want daddy doing anything bad yet. I spot a boy and girl walking together. They were talking and holding hands! You read that right, holding hands! I was about to run over to the girl to warn her about cooties when the bell rings and I walk back to class instead. But if I see that girl again, I'll talk to her.

**Robert's POV**

New day, new school, Monday. Could this get any worse right now?

I was scared when my teacher, Mr. Clark introduced me to the whole class. He had me come up to the front and tell them my name and where I moved from. I nearly fainted up there. A few kids laughed at me and that made it worse. I hope nobody calls me 'Robbie'. I said when I was up there in front of the class that I didn't like to be called 'Robbie'. I have a feeling that it's going to happen anyways. This will be a lot of fun.

The sched-thingy is pretty simple. We go to school at 8. Our lunch is at 12 and recess is 30 minutes after that. We then go back to class at 1 for one more hour. After class ends at 2, we pretty much just go home.

It was recess time, which I'm told it usually means go crazy in the playground. The playground is pretty big with slides, swings, and all sorts of games. And did I mention sand? No? Well, there is sand and a lot of it too I might add!

I was running around to get a feel of the place when I ran into someone and we both fell to the ground, hard. We groan as we get up.

"Careful where you're going!" a girl's voice groans. I look at the girl I ran into and she is pretty cute looking. _Whoa, not a good thought!_ I think as I study the girl. She's short and has short brown hair and weird cheekbones.

"Sorry, got too excited." I reply.

"As long as we're not hurt." She points out and I nod.

"I'm Robert." I introduce myself holding out a hand. She takes it and shakes it with a smile.

"Victoria, nice to meet you, Robbie." She replies. My smile drops.

"I like to be called Robert. Robbie sounds stupid." I tell her. It really is a stupid name.

"Ok, sorry Robert." She replies, smiling to cheer me up. I smile back.

"No problem, Victoria; sorry for bumping into you." I say and depart again, watching where I'm going this time. _Aw, what a cute girl._ I think and whoa!_ Cute? Girls? Did I call that girl cute?_ I think horrified as I stop dead in my tracks and breathe heavily. _No, I didn't; I'm just thinking it, but still I think she's cute?!_ What's going on here? I don't think girls are cute at all! They're gross with their crying and their cooties and their bright colors and their- eugh! I don't think I'm healthy if I think that any girl at all is cute. I'll have to talk to mommy and daddy today. I even spot a boy and girl walking around the edges of the playground, holding hands and talking. I want to go over there and tell him to stop, but the bell rings and I walk back to class.

This is certainly a weird first day at a new school. I guess it can't get any worse now.

**Andre's POV**

A new school. Great. Could I be any more nervous right now?

My teacher, Mrs. Kaplan introduced me in front of the entire class. I nearly fainted from being scared up there. A lot of kids laughed at me, almost making me cry. Mrs. Kaplan told them to be quiet or she would give weekend homework. It shut them up instantly.

I sit back down in my seat in the middle of the classroom and silently wish that that clock would turn to 12. I want to get out of here before I'm scared to death. I'm almost there.

Finally, the bell rings at noon to signal the start of lunch. We all go to the cafeteria to get our food.

The cafeteria is a cafeteria and stage put together in a large building. It has a high ceiling and several tables with attached seats.

I grab a rectangular slice of pizza, what an odd shape, and a carton of chocolate milk. I then find a seat by myself and eat alone.

A girl walks up to me. I don't know her but she looks nice. She's pretty tiny for her age and has long, brown hair.

"Can I sit here?" she asks nervously, motioning to the seat across me.

"Sure." I reply, smiling at her. She smiles back and sits down. She has a burger, with ketchup packages and a carton of strawberry milk.

"I'm Caterina." She said, introducing herself.

"Andre, nice to meet you, Caterina." I reply, shaking her tiny hand.

"Are you new here?" she asks.

"Yup; moved from Berkeley." I reply.

"Where's that at?" she asks.

"Near the ocean, but it's a six hour drive from here." I say.

"Wow, that's a long drive." She says, her eyes wide. I gaze into her eyes and I can't help but notice how cute she is. _Wait, what? Did I think she's cute?_

"Are you new here as well?" I ask her, trying to make conversation. I eat my pizza to distract myself from looking in her eyes.

"Yeah, my family moved here from Burbank." She replies.

"Oh, man, that's so close." I moan from the distance difference between our former cities to our current one.

"Sorry." She says sadly.

"No worries; what do your parents do?" I ask her. I try to look in her eyes again, but I'm trying to not stare at her.

"My daddy is an engineer and works for a company and got transferred to another department here; my mommy is a nurse who works at LA General now and usually has late night shifts." She replies. Wow, she has an interesting family.

"Both of my parents are dentists and they are strict about my teeth." I reply sadly. She looks at me sadly too.

"Can you have any candy or sugary foods?" she asks.

"No, not really." I reply. She pouts at me. I feel my cheeks warming up for some reason and I resume eating my pizza to hide it from her. I hope she didn't see that.

"Why'd you move here from the ocean?" she asks me.

"My mommy's pregnant and we needed a bigger place." I reply.

"Aw, you're gonna have a little brother or sister!" she says, making a cute look on her face. My cheeks warm up again and I look away, smiling nervously.

"Yep, don't know yet, but that's why we moved." I say. She smiles at me.

The bell rings for recess and the cafeteria explodes from happy shouts from kids who rush outside to the playground. Caterina and I throw away our trash and put away our trays and join them outside. We play on the monkey bars a bit and go down the slides several times. We then start chasing each other and I manage to gently tackle her to the ground. She squeals and rolls around with me. She rolls on top of me and our eyes are locked with each other. We then scramble off the ground and stand up, brushing the sand off us. I notice her cheeks are red. Mine have started burning again. What gives?

The bell rings and we part ways to go to our classes. I hope to see her again, she's so cute and-_ Ugh, what's wrong with me?_ I think as I walk back to class. I've never had anything like this happen to me before. I wonder why that was happening to me. I'll have to talk to mommy and daddy when I get home today. But I know one thing at least.

Moving her is not as bad as I expected it to be.

**Caterina's POV**

I can't stop fidgeting. I'm so nervous right now. I spent the majority of the week with my family as we settled in. So that means today is my first day at a new school. So, yeah, I'm scared right now. I hope Joey's doing ok. He's a couple grades ahead of me. He's pretty good at making friends. He's a nice kid and very likeable so I think he'll be ok. Me, on the other hand, well that's different. I'm really shy and quiet and don't have a lot of friends. Well, since we moved, I now have no friends at the moment. I hope that changes soon.

My teacher, Miss Bailey, introduced me to the class this morning. I squeaked like a mouse when she had me come up to the front so I can tell them my name. I don't know why she couldn't have me do it from my seat in the back of the classroom.

I nearly fainted up at the front of the room, I was so scared. A few kids laughed at me. Miss Bailey told them to stop and it helped a little. But, it didn't make me feel any better. No, I'm still scared and nervous here.

The bell rings at noon for lunch time and we all go into the cafeteria to get food. The cafeteria also has a stage inside and is very tall to have stage lights on the ceiling.

I grab a tray and a burger and strawberry milk. I get some ketchup packages and napkins. I start to look around for a spot. I find one in front of a boy. I walk up to him. I don't know why I wanted to go to him, I just did. He was sitting all by himself too, so that's probably why. I can't stand sitting alone at lunch.

I study the boy's looks when I get closer. He has dark skin and is hair is almost completely gone. He has a sad look on his face. _He's lonely._ I think as I walk to him. He looks up at me as I approach him.

"Can I sit here?" I ask him nervously, motioning to the seat across him.

"Sure." he replies smiling. I smile back and sit down. He has an oddly shaped pizza and some chocolate milk.

"I'm Caterina." I say, introducing myself to him.

"Andre, nice to meet you, Caterina." he replies, shaking his hand. _That's a nice name._

"Are you new here?" I ask. I don't know why I ask him that, but I have a feeling that he is.

"Yup; moved from Berkeley." he replies. I never heard of that city.

"Where's that at?" I ask.

"Near the ocean, but it's a six hour drive from here." he says.

"Wow, that's a long drive." I say, my eyes wide. I wonder why he moved here if he was so close to the ocean.

"Are you new here as well?" he asks, trying to make conversation. He starts to eat his pizza, but for some reason he doesn't want to look me in the eyes. I hope I'm not making him nervous.

"Yeah, my family moved here from Burbank." I reply, trying to look him in the eyes.

"Oh, man, that's so close." he moans. I give him a weak smile, but he doesn't notice.

"Sorry." I say, sadly.

"No worries; what do your parents do?" he asks. He starts to look me in the eyes again, but something is wrong here. I can't place it yet, but I think I'm making him nervous.

"My daddy is an engineer and works for a company and got transferred to another department here; my mommy is a nurse who works at LA General now and usually has late night shifts." I tell him and I guess he looks impressed. Yeah, I think that's the word.

"Both of my parents are dentists and they are strict about my teeth." he replies sadly. I give him a sad look. _That must really suck. I don't like dentists._

"Can you have any candy or sugary foods?" I ask him, but I don't think I want to know.

"No, not really." he replies sadly. I pout at him slightly. I feel bad for him. He looks down again and resumes eating his pizza.

"Why'd you move here from the ocean?" I ask him, curious.

"My mommy's pregnant and we needed a bigger place." he replies. _Oooh, he's gonna have a little baby soon!_

"Aw, you're gonna have a little brother or sister!" I say and he looks away, nervously. I feel bad for making him nervous.

"Yep, don't know yet, but that's why we moved." He says and I smile at him.

The bell rings for recess and the cafeteria explodes from happy shouts from kids who rush outside to the playground. Andre and I throw our trash away and replace our trays and walk outside to join the others. We play at the monkey bars a bit and ride the slides a few times. We get bored and somehow start chasing each other until he tackles me gently and we roll around on the sand before I end up on top of him. Our eyes were locked to each other and we stay there for what seems forever. We then scramble to our feet and brush at the sand stuck to our clothes. My cheeks are burning now. But, why?

The bell rings to save us from this silence between each other. We say our goodbyes and walk back to our classes. As I walk back to Miss Bailey's class, I think about what just happened. We were rolling around on the sand and I somehow was on top of him, staring into his dreamy eyes. _Uh, what's going on here?_ I think as I shake my head. I'll talk to mommy and daddy about it when I get home from school today. I do know one thing for sure.

Moving her is not as bad as I expected it to be.

**Jadelyn's POV**

It's my first day at a new school and I'm terrified. I'm sweating on my face and my hands and it's really gross. I got to not do that anymore. It's just- ugh!

My teacher, Miss Adams, introduced me to the whole class in the morning and it freaked me out. She had me come up to the front to say hi to my classmates. I nearly cried while I was up there. A few boys chuckled at me. Only one boy seemed to understand what I was going through. I caught his eyes. His face was nervous and a little scared, just like mine was. He smiled at me weakly and waved. I returned his smile and waved back. He had jet black hair and his skin was slightly tanned.

After I sat back down and Miss Adams started the lesson, I would steal a look or two at the tanned boy. He didn't seem to notice my staring at him. I had a feeling this too was his first day.

"Oh, I'm sorry class; I forgot something." Miss Adams said suddenly, drawing my attention back to her. She chuckled a little. "I forgot another new student here today; Mr. Oliver, would you join me up here please?" she asked, motioning to someone. We all turned to this Oliver character. She was motioning to the tanned boy who waved at me. _I knew it!_

Oliver gulped loudly and slowly stood up and stumbled to the front of the class. He stood next to Miss Adams. He looked up at her nervously.

"Introduce yourself dear." She said with a wide smile. He gulped again and cleared his throat. He said something, but I couldn't hear him.

"Speak up, chicken!" a boy from the back shouted.

"Don't call anyone chicken, Tommy." Miss Adams said strictly. Oliver cleared his throat again.

"Uh, my name's Beckett; I just moved here with my family from Vancouver in Canada." Oliver said.

_He's from Canada?_ That's a weird place I'm told. They really like their maple syrup up there.

"Thank you, Beckett. Please take your seat now, dear." Miss Adams said sweetly. Beckett rushed back to his seat practically and kept his head low for a while. _Poor thing. I understand what he's going through._ I think as I resume looking at him. He's cute.

He then turns to look at me. I look away quickly, my cheeks warming up a little for some reason. I've never been caught looking at someone before.

Miss Adams keeps going on and I pay attention, which for some reason is proving difficult to do. I want to look at Beckett again, but I don't want to get caught looking at him again.

I wish the clock would turn to lunch time so we can get out of here.

Finally, the stupid bell rings to signal lunch. Miss Adams has us form a single-fill line to go to the cafeteria to get lunch. We all walk to the cafeteria to get our lunch, but it seems a little rushed to the point where I'm almost crushed by kids. I'm shoved around until I'm in the back of the line. I look for Beckett and spot him with his black hair. He doesn't look back. When we get there, it is almost packed with a lotta other students.

I grab a tray as I walk through the doors to get inside. As we walk in line to get the food, I look around the cafeteria. It's a large room with a very high ceiling. There are rows and rows of large brown tables with attached seats. The building has a stage, complete with red curtains and stage lights on the ceiling to match.

I look at the menu on the wall for the month of January and see the daily menu for Mondays: pizza; salad; ham and cheese; and burgers. Drinks include milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, orange juice, and apple juice. I grab a salad with a fork and a small carton of strawberry milk. I grab a napkin and get out of the line and look for a place to sit.

The cafeteria is all but full of students. This lunch is for my grade. Each grade gets their own separate lunch and recess time. I can't find a place to sit.

I go to the tables in front of the stage and find a seat as far away from everyone else as I can possibly get.

I sit there and play with my lunch with the plastic fork and sometime put the lettuce in my mouth. I look around the cafeteria a bit out of boredom. That's when I hear someone clear their throat and I look up to see Beckett standing in front of me. My cheeks burn red as I think that he's probably mad at me for staring at him. _Oh, please don't be mad; I'm terrified enough as it is._

"H-hi…" I squeak. He looks a little nervous and seems to be trying to find his voice again.

"Can I sit here?" he asks, his voice cracked from nervousness. His tanned cheeks are burning red as well.

"Uh, sure." I say and he sits down in front of me with his tray of food. _I'm in so much trouble now. What do I do?_ I think as he looks at me, trying to make contact with my eyes.

"How are you today?" he asks, trying to make conversation.

"Uh, I'm doing terrible. Uh, I mean fine. Uh, how are you?" I reply quickly stumbling over my words.

"I'm breathing." he admits. I smile at him weakly.

"Breathing's uh, breathing's good…" I say. _That was real dumb, Jadelyn._

"Why are you so nervous?" he asks, trying to get me to calm down. I think I'm gonna faint…

"Nervous? What are you talkin about? Who's nervous? I'm not nervous! You are!" I reply, looking at him terrified. I'm really freaking out here, people!

"Please calm down." he begs me. I nod slowly and take a few deep breaths to calm me down and it helps…kinda. I manage to calm down enough to start to eat my salad again, which is almost shredded from being played with. Beckett starts to eat his rectangular piece of pizza. Why is it rectangular? I shrug it off and continue eating.

We sit there, eating and avoiding each other's gazes as best as we could. We weren't bothered by other students, who had their lunches with their group of friends. I was thinking of what to say to him. I think he's doing the same.

"What's Canada like?" I finally ask him unable to think of anything else to ask.

"It gets pretty chilly in the winter, but its weather is pretty nice and it's a beautiful place." He tells me. He seems to miss it there. Why'd he move?

"Why'd you move here?" I ask.

"My daddy's job; he operates on the brain." He replies, causing me to gag on my salad and to drink milk to wash it down. _Operates on the brain?!_ I think as I give him a confused look.

"Operates on the brain? Like that _Operation_ game?" I ask and he nods. Wow, that's scary!

"How about you? Why'd you move here?" he asks.

"Same, daddy's job; he's a lawyer." I reply and he nods, finishing his lunch. I finish mine too and wait for him to ask me that one question.

"Why were you staring at me in class earlier?" He asks finally. _There it is._ I think as I feel scared. _I'm so dead now._ "Please don't be scared." He says suddenly. _That's just it. I feel scared, but I feel something else as well, but I can't place it. He's just so cute looking and I have to tell him for some reason._

"I'm not scared, it's just I-"I start, but I stop for a moment. I look at him terrified and he has a sad look in his eyes. I hope I'm not making him sad. "I kinda think you're cute." I whisper, hoping that he didn't hear me. But he did.

"Thanks." He replies and smiles at me. I smile back weakly. I wonder if he'll say the same about me. "I think you're cute as well, Jadelyn." He adds. I look up at him surprised. _Wait, he actually thinks I'm cute?! YES, he does! I'm cute! I'm CUTE! CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!_

"Thanks, Beckett." I reply, giving him a nervous smile. The bell rings to signify recess. The entire cafeteria practically explodes with excitement as kids run outside to play in the playground. Beckett and I watch as the kids run outside to play. Beckett turns back to look at me.

"Do you want to go outside and play?" he offers. I look at him. _I think I should say yes, after all, he says I'm cute!_

"Sure." I reply and we both throw our trash away and put back our trays and walk outside the large cafeteria together.

As we walk to the playground next to each other, I'm trying to be brave here. I'm so scared and nervous. He then suddenly takes my hand in his. His hand warms mine up almost immediately. His skin is nice and soft to the touch too. I hold onto his hand as we walk together. I don't even fight him. I don't know why, but I try to ignore that thought.

Instead of playing like every other kid in the playground was, Beckett and I walked around talking about ourselves. We shared our likes and dislikes and talked about our parents. We laughed and had a fun time talking to each other, when the bell rang to signal the end of recess. The playground is filled with the groans of every kid and we all walk back to our classrooms to resume our learning. Beckett and I walk back, hand-in-hand, to Miss Adams class.

When we get there, we let go of each other's hands so we can sit in our seats. We are several seats apart. For some reason, I feel different without Beckett's warm hand holding mine. I feel lost and lonely without the comfort of his hand in mine. What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling like this? I gotta talk to mommy about this when I get home. I feel so strange. I look at Beckett one last time before Miss Adams starts talking again.

Maybe moving here wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, since I'm friends with a cute boy. _Hee hee._

**Beckett's POV**

My first day in a new school in a new country. This should be fun. I spent the majority of last week with my family, getting settled in. This makes today even more fun for me.

I was sitting in my new classroom, surrounded by kids. I was sweating a bit and I was really nervous.

My teacher, Miss Adams was helping to introduce a new kid in our classroom. The kid was a cute looking girl. She was really pale and had long brown hair. Her emerald eyes were terrified and she looked like she was about to cry, the poor thing. For some reason, I liked her. I just couldn't place it.

"My name's Jadelyn West. I moved here with my parents from Pasadena." She said. She had a beautiful voice. Jadelyn's a beautiful name too. I had a feeling I was going to like this girl.

She caught me looking at her. I think she could tell I was new here as well. I smiled at her and offered her a wave. She returned the smile and waved back.

Jadelyn sat down and Miss Adams started the lesson. I paid attention, since I don't know how much different education here is from Vancouver. I have this weird feeling that someone's looking at me. I'm about to look around when Miss Adams paused for a second.

"Oh, I'm sorry class; I forgot something." Miss Adams said suddenly. She chuckled a little. "I forgot another new student here today; Mr. Oliver, would you join me up here please?" she asked, motioning to me. I feel the eyes of the entire classroom turning to look at me.

I gulped loudly and slowly stood up and stumbled to the front of the class. I stood next to Miss Adams and looked up at her nervously.

"Introduce yourself dear." She said with a wide smile. I gulped again and muttered under my breath.

"Speak up, chicken!" a boy from the back shouted.

"Don't call anyone chicken, Tommy." Miss Adams said strictly. I cleared my throat again and started a little louder this time.

"Uh, my name's Beckett; I just moved here with my family from Vancouver in Canada." I said, nervously. A few kids had looks on their faces that I couldn't place. I just ignored them and rushed back to my seat when Miss Adams dismissed me. As I sat, I lowered my head to avoid being seen hopefully. I still have that feeling that someone is looking at me. I look around a little and to my left and I see that Jadelyn girl looking at me. She looks away quickly, her pale cheeks turning a bright red. I ignore her staring at me and look back to the front, but I think I feel her staring at me again.

I sometimes look at the digital clock at the front of the classroom, silently urging it to go to lunch time at noon. Unfortunately, that's a few hours from now.

Finally, the stupid bell rings to signal lunch. Miss Adams has us form a single-fill line to go to the cafeteria to get lunch. We all walk to the cafeteria to get our lunch, but it seems a little rushed. When we get there, it is almost packed with a lotta other students.

I grab a tray as I walk through the doors to get inside. As we walk in line to get the food, I look around the cafeteria. It's a large room with a very high ceiling. There are rows and rows of large brown tables with attached seats. The building has a stage, complete with red curtains and stage lights on the ceiling to match.

I look at the menu on the wall for the month of January and see the daily menu for Mondays: pizza; salad; ham and cheese; and burgers. Drinks include milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, orange juice, and apple juice. I grab a warm slice of cheese pizza and a small carton of chocolate milk. By slice of pizza, I mean more like a rectangle. Why is it shaped like that? Is it supposed to help? Whatever. I grab a napkin and get out of the line and look for a place to sit.

The cafeteria is all but full of students. This lunch is for my grade. Each grade gets their own separate lunch and recess time. I can't find a place to sit.

That's when I spot Jadelyn, sitting at a table near the stage all by herself. She's looking around nervously and sometimes looks at her lunch and plays with it using her plastic fork. I gulp and walk over to her. With each step I get closer to her, my hands start to shake a little more and I can't seem to control it for some reason.

I walk to the other side of the table to sit opposite her. She doesn't seem aware that I'm here and seems to want to be alone. I walk up to her and clear my throat to get her attention. Her head jerks up suddenly and she looks me in the eyes and her pale cheeks turn red again.

"H-hi…" she squeaks. I think I lost my voice for a second there.

"Can I sit here?" I ask, my voice almost cracked from nervousness. My cheeks are warm too.

"Uh, sure." She says, her voice small. I nod slowly and sit down with my tray. I grab my hands to make them stop shaking, but they simply won't. I look up at the pale girl in front of me, who's trying to avoid my gaze. I don't understand why she's so nervous around me. I guess, she's just scared to meet new people.

"How are you today?" I ask her, trying to make conversation.

"Uh, I'm doing terrible. Uh, I mean fine. Uh, how are you?" she replies quickly, stumbling over her words.

"I'm breathing." I admit. She smiles at me weakly. _What kind of an answer is that, Beckett?_

"Breathing's uh, breathing's good…" she says.

"Why are you so nervous?" I ask her, trying to calm her down. She looks like she's about to faint.

"Nervous? What are you talkin about? Who's nervous? I'm not nervous! You are!" she says, looking at me terrified. She's starting to freak me out now and I barely know her.

"Please calm down." I beg her. She nods slowly and takes a few deep breaths. She manages to calm down and starts to eat her salad, which is almost shredded from her constant playing with a fork. I start to eat my pizza, which has gone a little cold from sitting there untouched.

We sit there, eating and avoiding each other's gazes as best as we could. We weren't bothered by other students, who had their lunches with their group of friends. I was thinking of what to say to her to be polite. I think she's doing the same.

"What's Canada like?" she asks finally.

"It gets pretty chilly in the winter, but it's weather is pretty nice and it's a beautiful place." I tell her.

"Why'd you move here?" she asks.

"My daddy's job; he operates on the brain." I tell her. She gags on her salad and drinks some milk and looks at me, confused.

"Operates on the brain? Like that _Operation_ game?" she asks. I nod and she looks scared.

"How about you? Why'd you move here?" I ask her.

"Same, daddy's job; he's a lawyer." She replies. I nod and finish my pizza and down my milk. I look at her and I'm trying to build up to ask her why she was staring at me in class. _Here goes nothing._

"Why were you staring at me in class earlier?" I ask her. She squeaks a little and her cheeks turn red again and she looks down at her lap. I think she might be scared. "Please don't be scared."

"I'm not scared, it's just I-"she begins and stops suddenly. She looks up at me with terrified eyes that make me sad. "I kinda think you're cute." She whispers so I barely hear her. But I got the message. _She thinks I'm cute?! What do I say to _that_?!_

"Thanks." I reply with a weak smile. She smiles back at me weakly and looks away. Should I tell her she's cute too? Maybe I should. "I think you're cute as well, Jadelyn." I tell her. She looks at me and seems surprised that I told her that. I smile at her to make her feel better.

"Thanks, Beckett." She replies, smiling back at me nervously. The bell rings to signify recess. I look around as the entire cafeteria practically explodes with excitement as kids run outside to play in the playground. I look back and see she's still sitting there.

"Do you want to go outside and play?" I offer her. She looks at me.

"Sure." She replies. We get up and throw our trash away and put the trays away and walk outside together. She seems nervous being around me. I take her hand in mine to help her. I'm surprised that she didn't object. I don't know why I did that at all. It just felt like the right thing to do so I did it.

Instead of playing around like the others, we walked around the sandy playground, holding hands and talking to each other. We talked about our likes and dislikes, our parents, and all sorts of stuff. We have a lot in common. We have a good time talking when the bell rings to signify the end of recess. The entire playground is filled with many groans as kids walked back to their classrooms. Jadelyn and I walk back together to Miss Adams class. When we get back, we let go of each other's hands and take our respective seats away from each other. For some reason, I feel wrong without her hand in mine. I feel lost and lonely. What's happening to me? I gotta talk to mommy and daddy about this when I get home before I lose my mind.

Maybe moving here wasn't so bad. Plus, I got a new friend and she says I'm cute.

**No one's POV**

What little did the young children know, was that their paths would cross again in the future, even if they are already fast friends. For the majority of them, moving may not have been a bad thing. But, will they recognize each other after they have changed in so many ways, even their own families won't fully recognize them again? Their looks, their attitudes, and their personalities. No one knows for sure, but what is known is that it is inevitable.

**Chapter 4. Comment or review plz and you'll be rewarded to a preview of the next chapter; unless you don't like the story enough to review it. Man, this chapter took forever to write. Crossing paths for the first time. But, will they recognize each other in 10 or so years? LAE is a made up school, duh.**


	6. Being Crushed

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POVs when mentioned if any.**

**Chapter 5**

**Being Crushed**

_Monday, January 17__th__._

**Victoria's POV**

_After school. Vega residence._

I take the bus home from school with Trina. We get off at the stop on the street where we live and we walk home. When we get there, Trina unlocks the front door with her keys and we walk in. Mommy's at the kitchen table, having a cup of coffee and reading a book. She looks up when she hears us walk in.

"Hey, sweeties; How was school?" she asks with a warm smile.

"Slow." Trina moans as she goes upstairs to her room.

"It was…good." I reply. Mommy looks at me, confused.

"Did something happen today, Vicki?" she asks.

"I guess you could say that." I reply. Mommy gets up and walks over to me. She has me sit down on the couch and wants me to talk.

"What happened? You're starting to worry me, Vicki." She says.

"I don't really know how to say this." I say, truthfully. I really don't. How do you tell your mommy that you might like a boy?

"Honey, are you being bullied by someone?" she asks in a tone I couldn't place.

"No! Nothing like that!" I reply, freaking out.

"Then what's going on, baby?" she asks, desperate.

"I think I like someone." I say, looking down sadly. I hope she doesn't get mad at me. I wait for her to start shouting at me, but it doesn't come. I look up at her and see she has a smile on her face. _Why?_ "Why are you smiling?"

"You like someone. Who is it? A cute boy?" she asks, excitedly. I look at her confused by her sudden happiness.

"A boy name Robert. He accidentally knocked me over during recess." I tell her.

"Is he cute?" she asks.

"He has curly hair and a nice face." I tell her. I was going to say a cute face, but I didn't want to say that as it sounds weird. She chuckles and hugs me a little. After she lets me go, I pout. "I don't know why I like him at all, I just met him."

"You have a crush." She says. _A what now?_

"A what?" I ask her, confused.

"You have a crush; it means you like someone a lot and you want to be close to them." She says.

"Eww! Gross! I don't want to be close to him! He has cooties!" I groan at her.

"Don't worry; it's natural. You have nothing to worry about."

"But what do I do?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

"What if I see him again? What do I do then? Walk up to him and say 'I like you a lot because of something called a crush'?" I ask.

"Well you don't have to be that dramatic, Vicki; but if you do see him again, talk to him and see what he's like. You might find out that he likes you back."

"And if he doesn't?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer.

"If he doesn't, just leave it at that. But if he does, talk to him, get to know him and play with him."

"What if he gives me cooties?" I ask, freaking out a bit.

"There's no such thing as cooties, Victoria." She replies, rolling her eyes. I shrug.

"So I just talk to him, that's it?" I ask.

"Yes, and go from there." She replies. I nod.

"Thanks mommy." I say hugging her.

"You're welcome, sweetie."

"Uh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"My cheeks were feeling warm after Robert and I left each other. Why was it?" I ask her.

"You were blushing. You were embarrassed to be talking with him and I bet he was too." She replies, smiling again. _That explains a lot, then._

"Ok." I say. I guess I have to talk to Robert tomorrow. I hope he likes me too.

**Robert's POV**

_After school. Shapiro residence._

"Hi, mommy." I greet as I walk inside after getting dropped off by the bus.

"Hey, Robert! How was school?" she asks from the sofa. She was reading a book. We have managed to settle in all the way and this is officially our new home.

"Uh, it was…ok." I say, a little upset. She looks up and looks at me confused.

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" she asks.

"I need to talk to about something." I reply as I walk over to her and sit down on the sofa next to her. She puts her book down and gives me her full attention.

"What is it?"

"Uh…um…I uh think that I um like someone." I say quietly, looking down. She chuckles a little and hugs me. I'm confused by this.

"Who is she? A cute little girl?" she asks, a smile on her face.

"Her name's Victoria. I met her at the playground. I accidentally ran into her, knocking her down."

"Was she alright?" Mommy asks a little serious.

"Yeah, but why do I like her all of the sudden? I barely know her!" I say, upset.

"You have a crush on her. You like her a lot and you want to be close to her and be her best friend." She explains.

"But, why?" I ask.

"No one really knows why. It just happens. And it happened to you and you like this Victoria a lot."

"What about cooties? Girls have them you know!" I tell her.

"Those don't exist. But, what does she look like?"

"She's cute. She has short brown hair and weird cheekbones."

"What's wrong with her cheekbones?" Mommy asks confused.

"They're really, oh, I don't know how to say it?"

"Pronounced?" she offers. I look at her. "Noticeable." She explains.

"Yeah, they're really pronounced. But, for some reason, I think that makes her cute."

"Well talk to her when you see her next." Mommy says.

"Why?" I moan. I'm already upset about having a crush on some girl, but now she wants me to talk to Victoria?

"Sometimes crushes are mutual, or shared between both of you, so talk to her and get to know her and you'll probably find out that she likes you too. If she doesn't, just let it go and move on."

"What do I say to her?" I ask.

"Just make small talk with her and ask about herself and what she likes and see if she wants to know about you."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then, she doesn't like you back, though if she didn't like you, she wouldn't tell you about herself."

"Ok, um, my cheeks were burning a little bit after I left her."

"That was a blush, it shows you really like her and your embarrassed about it. Was she blushing too?"

"I don't know."

"Well, when you see her again, go and talk to her and see what happens. You might be surprised about girls."

"Ok, thanks mommy." I say and hug her. She hugs me back and kisses the top of my head. Gagh.

"You're welcome, Robert." She says. I hope Victoria likes me back.

**Andre's POV**

_After school. Harris residence._

I get home after school has ended. I'm still worried about what had happened to me and Caterina at lunch. I hope I didn't scare her. I'll never feel the same about myself if I did scare her.

I walk inside and see mommy is home in the living room, reading the newspaper. She looks up when she hears me coming and smiles at me.

"Hey, sweetheart, how was school?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything!" I blurt out all of the sudden. She looks at me confused by my response.

"Is everything alright, Andre?" she asks, worry in her voice.

"No, it's not! I made a mistake today!" I squeal, dropping to the floor and I start crying. I hear her jump up and rush over to me. She lifts me up a bit and I hug her when I'm on my feet again. She hugs me back and rubs my back.

"What happened today, Andre?" she asks quietly. She leads me to the couch and we sit down. I'm still crying but not as much as I was a few seconds ago.

"Please don't be mad at me." I beg her weakly.

"I won't be mad, Andre. Tell me what happened?"

"I met this girl, Caterina at lunch; she moved here from Burbank because of her daddy's job."

"Ok, you met a girl. Was she cute?"

"Don't say that!" I squeak. She raises her hands in defeat and lowers them slowly.

"Ok, sorry. What happened between you two?"

"We were playing together in the playground during recess and we ended up chasing each other; I tackled her to the ground."

"Why did you tackle her?" Mommy asks loudly.

"I was being gentle!" I reply, raising my hands.

"Then what happened?" she asks.

"We were rolling on the ground and she rolled on top of me and we were just staring into each other's eyes." I tell her. Mommy didn't say anything, so I continued. "We got to our feet quickly and the bell rang and we left." I finish my story and start crying again. She rubs my back and tries to soothe me.

"You're overreacting. You two have a crush on each other. Were you two blushing at all?" she asks. I raise my head and look at her, confused. _What do those words mean?_

"I don't know what you mean." I tell her.

"A crush is when you like someone a lot and you want to be closer to them and a blush is when your cheeks turn red from embarrassment. In other words, you two like each other a lot and are really embarrassed about it." She explains, smiling at me.

"We were blushing when we were talking in the cafeteria. I was blushing after we rolled on the sand. I think she was too." I say. I manage to stop crying and wipe my face of tears. My eyes are still watery though. I think I'm blushing again. This is embarrassing.

"Well, at least you know she likes you back. Why don't you talk to her and see if you two can play together after school some time?" Mommy says.

"What do I say to her since I know she likes me? Won't it be kinda weird between the both of us?" I ask her.

"Yes it will be. Just make small talk with her and ask her if she wants to play with you some time and go from there." She tells me. I nod slowly, showing her I get her.

"Ok, thanks mommy." I say and hug her again. She hugs me back.

"You're welcome, sweetie and remember: no matter what happens, I'll always be behind you." She tells me.

"Ok," I reply. I sigh and hope the next time I see Caterina, this will go ok.

**Caterina's POV**

_After school. Valentine residence._

_What is going on with me?_ I think as Joey and I walk back to the house after our bus ride. Joey was talking to me, but I wasn't really paying attention. I would say something in agreement to let him know I'm talking, but my mind's too busy thinking about what happened at lunch with Andre.

"Did you have a good first day, Caterina?" Joey asks me suddenly. I shake my head and come back to the present.

"Yeah, I was a little nervous, but I think I'll like it here." I reply. He smiles brightly as we walk up to our new house. He pulls out his keys and unlocks the front doors. We go inside and go upstairs to put our backpacks away in our rooms. We then go downstairs into the kitchen for a snack and mommy's there, drinking tea and reading a magazine. She looks up when we approach her.

"Hey sweeties, how was school today?" she asks as Jory and I get hugged and kissed by her.

"Good." We both say together and she chuckles lightly. Joey gets both of us a Pop Tart to have. I open mine up and see its strawberry, my favorite. I smile as I take a bite out of the soft food.

"Mommy can I talk to you alone, please? It's kinda important." I ask her. She and Joey look at me confused. Mommy looks at Joey, who shrugs and goes upstairs. Mommy turns back to me, her eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Is something wrong, Caterina?" she asks in an important tone.

"Yeah." I reply. Before I could continue, I burst into tears and started crying. Mommy freaked out.

"Oh my God, Caterina! What happened today?" she asks as she hugs me tightly. I sob a little and start to sniffle so that I can talk to her about Andre and what happened during recess.

"I met a boy today at lunch; he's new here just like I am." I tell her. She rubs my back gently.

"Do you like him?" Mommy asks.

"I don't know what I feel; it's hard to say." I reply.

"What happened at lunch?"

"Well, this boy, Andre and I started talking at the same table and we went to play in the playground during recess and we ended up chasing each other around." I explain.

"Go on, Kitty." She says, rubbing my back more.

"He ended up tackling me to the ground and-"I say before-

"He tackled you?! Why did he do that?! Did you tell the teachers?!" Mommy says suddenly and pulls back to look me in the eyes.

"No! He was gentle! It was a friendly tackle!" I cry out. Please don't make me sad more than I already am.

"Ok, what happened after he tackled you?" she sighs and rubs my shoulder.

"We rolled around a bit and I ended up on top of him, staring into his eyes." I say and the tears start to come back again. "We got up and left after the bell rang." I say, finishing my story and I start crying again. Mommy hugs me again and I sob into her shoulder.

"Shh, its ok, Kitty. I know what your problem is." She says.

"What?" I ask in her shoulder.

"You two like each other. I bet you two blushed a lot, yes?" she tells me.

"What's a blush?" I ask.

"It's when your cheeks turn red from embarrassment. In your case, you like Andre a lot and he likes you a lot too." She says. She then pulls back and smiles at me. "You two have a crush on each other; you like each other a lot and you want to be closer to each other."

"What do you mean 'closer'?" I ask.

"You'll want to be best friends at first, but when you get older, you'll want to take it to the next step." She replies. When she sees the confusion in my eyes, she continues again. "You'll want to be in a relationship with him, but you're too young at the moment to understand."

"So, we like each other? Is that what happened?" I ask her.

"Yes, you two like each other a lot and are really embarrassed about it."

"What do I do now?"

"If you see Andre again, talk to him and get to know him and see if he wants to hang out with you."

"Ok." I reply, a little upset.

"I'm sure he likes you back. Was he blushing too?"

"Yeah, he blushed a lot when we were eating together."

"He definitely likes you then." Mommy says, with a big smile on her face. I smile back.

"Thanks, mommy." I say, hugging her again. She hugs me back.

"You're welcome, baby." She says and kisses me on the head.

I really hope Andre does like me. I like him a lot and I don't really understand why.

**Jadelyn's POV**

_After school. West residence._

I walk inside my new house after an interesting day at school. Mommy comes and greets me from the kitchen.

"Hi, Jadelyn! How was school, baby?" she asks as she hugs me tightly.

"Too tight." I groan and she loosens a little and kisses the top of my head. "It was…uh, nice?" I reply uncertain. She pulls back and looks down at me, but I look down. My cheeks are red.

"Did something happen today?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"Well? What happened?" she asks. I fidget a little, trying to find my words. She raises my head with a finger under my chin so that I'm looking in her eyes.

"I met a cute guy today." I reply. I close my eyes as my cheeks burn more. Mommy hugs me again and chuckles at little. I open my eyes and look up at her.

"What's his name?" she asks, with a wide smile.

"Beckett, he moved from Canada with his family and we are in the same class." I reply. My cheeks burn at my saying his name and I have an image of his cute face in my head now and I sigh.

"Oooh, what does he look like?" she asks.

"He has black hair that is kinda long for him and has tanned skin."

"He does sound cute." Mommy replied.

"He said I was cute too." I said with a weak smile. Mommy laughed and pinched my cheeks.

"Not even 5 yet and you have boys chasing you." She replies happily. I chuckle nervously.

"We held hands too." I tell her and she looks at me weirdly.

"Why'd you hold hands?"

"I was nervous and scared and it helped me." I reply. She raises an eyebrow, but shrugs at it.

"As long as he doesn't hurt you, I'm glad you made a new friend."

"He seems nice enough. He was worried that I was scared."

"Do you like him?"

"Yes and I think he likes me too. Our cheeks kept going red. Why?"

"You were both blushing from embarrassment, which means you both like each other a lot from crushes." Mommy explains. I look at her confused.

"What's a crush?"

"It's a feeling you get when you really like someone and want to be good friends with them." She explains. Oh, I get it now.

"Ok I understand."

"And when you see him tomorrow, tell him that you like him and want to be friends." She told me.

"I will. Thanks, mommy." I reply, hugging her. She hugs me back.

I hope tomorrow goes ok.

**Beckett's POV**

_After school. Oliver residence._

I walked inside my house and looked around. I couldn't see mommy anywhere. I went upstairs to look for her. Not there. She's probably in the little studio we got. She put all her painting stuff in a room downstairs and uses it to paint. I go back downstairs and go to the studio, where she is sitting on the floor with a pad of paper, drawing.

"Hi, Mommy." I greet when I go in. She looks up and smiles at me. She stands up and walks to me and we hug each other.

"Hi, Beckett. How was your first day?" she asks.

"It went...ok, I guess." I reply. She looks at me, confused.

"What do you mean? Did something bad happen?"

"No, something good happen and I don't know what to think."

"Come sit down and talk." She says and we sit down on the floor across each other.

"Uh, I met someone today."

"Who'd you meet?"

"Her name's Jadelyn. She's new here as well as me." I reply, my cheeks going red at the mention of her name. I have an image of her cute face in my head too.

"I take it you like her."

'How can you tell?"

"Your cheeks are red. It's blushing. You do it when you're embarrassed." Mommy explains with a big smile.

"Well, she said I'm cute." I tell her and my cheeks burn more. Man, blushing is bad.

"And what did you say?"

"I told her she was cute too."

"What does she look like?"

"She has brown hair, she's kinda pale, and her eyes are blue-green. She has a really pretty face too." I tell her and my cheeks burn even more. Man, you're killing me, Jadelyn!

"No wonder you like her. She does sound really cute." Mommy says, putting her hand on my knee and squeezing it a bit. "Was she blushing too?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Did you talk to her?"

"We talked throughout recess today. I caught her staring at me in class and I talked to her at lunch, where we told each other we were cute and we walked outside and held hands as we talked."

"You held hands? Wow, I'm surprised. I'd thought you too would freak over 'cooties'." She replies, her eyebrows raised.

"Cooties aren't real. I held her hand to calm her down, she was looking kinda scared."

"Well, that was a very kind and grown-up thing to do, Beckett; I'm proud of you. What did you too talk about?"

"Not much, really. Our likes and dislikes. About our parents and why we moved here to LA." I reply.

"What did you find out?"

"We have a lot in common, like our favorite color is blue and we like pizza and burgers a lot."

"Well, I'm glad you talked to a girl and made a friend. I think you too will be great friends." Mommy says with a bright smile.

"You think?" I ask.

"I know. Talk to her some more tomorrow. See if you two can get together to play some time after school or maybe over the weekend. I think you'll enjoy that a lot." She replies. I think over what she said. _Yeah, I think I will like that. I like Jadelyn a lot, but I don't know why._

"How come I like her so much? I just met her." I ask.

"You have a crush on her which means you like someone a lot for no reason and you want to be closer to her; that's why you two were blushing a lot and her staring at you in class. You two like each other a lot." Mommy explains. That does make sense.

"Cool. Thanks mommy." I reply, hugging her. She hugs me back.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Now, how about a snack?"

"Ok!" I say happily, jumping up. She laughs and gets up off the floor and we walk to the kitchen together. As we walk, I think about Jadelyn. I think we'll be great friends. I do like her a lot. She is very cute. And, now I'm blushing again. So embarrassing.

**Chapter 5. Comment or review plz. The youngsters' reactions to having crushes and being crushed on.**


	7. Reactions and Backfires

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. POVs when mentioned if any.**

**Chapter 6**

**Reactions and Backfires**

_Tuesday, January 18__th__. LA Elementary. Lunch time._

**Victoria's POV**

_What do I do?_ I think as I walk around the cafeteria with my lunch tray. I'm looking for a certain boy. Some kid named Robert. I've only seen him once and now I'm desperate to see him again. I mean, I just met him like yesterday, and now I can't bear to be without him for some bizarre reason. _Crush, or not, I shouldn't be this desperate._ But I kinda do. I want to get this odd feeling out of my body. If I talk to him and tell him about my crush and see his reaction, I'll feel better. That is if he doesn't like me and hurts me. So, that'll be pretty bad.

I see him. I think that's him. I see a short kid with curly hair. He has a cute face too. Yeah, that's him alright. _Alright, here goes nothing._ I stand up and walk to him as he sits down and starts to eat rather quickly. I come from behind him so that he won't see me coming. I walk slowly and avoid other kids as they try to get food and find a spot, on my way to Robert.

I walk up to him and sit down next to him. He looks at me and jumps a little. He almost chokes on his food, so I slap his back a little and he gives me the thumbs up as he calms down.

"H-Hi, Victoria." He greets as he drinks some milk to wash down his lunch.

"Hi, Robert. Been avoiding me?" I ask him, smiling. He looks at me confused.

"No, why would you think I was avoiding you?" he asks, confused.

"I'm just teasing you, silly." I smile at him. He laughs a little and he blushes. _Yup, he likes me alright._

"How are you doing today?" he asks.

"Ok, how's your crush?" I ask him. His eyes widen and he blushes more. _Gotcha._

"I uh, don't know what you're talking about." He replies. I can tell he's lying.

"Robert, I know you like me. I like you too. We have crushes on each other. It's alright." I tell him. I put my hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He sighs a little and looks sad and embarrassed.

"This is so embarrassing." He replies.

"I know. I'm kinda upset myself." I say. He looks at me.

"You don't look upset. Are you lying to me?" he asks.

"No! I'm not lying. I told my mommy about what happened at recess with you yesterday and she says that we like each other a lot."

"So why aren't you looking upset as you say you are?" he asks.

"I'm not good at showing my feelings." I reply.

"You're a girl!" he says. I look at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I ask him.

"Girls are always feeling and crying and whining and they're always showing their feelings." He says. I slap his shoulder. _How could he say that? Why do I have a crush on him? He's mean!_

I get up and leave him alone. He tries to call me back, but I ignore him. I run out of the cafeteria as I start crying. _I gotta get out of here._

**Robert's POV**

I'm in the cafeteria, sitting and eating alone while I look around. I don't know why I'm feeling desperate. Sure, I'm nervous about talking to Victoria, a girl. But, I feel the need to talk to her, to tell her about this stupid crush thing I have for some reason. I bet she talked to her parents about me and that makes me even more nervous.

I'm almost finished eating my lunch. I'm still looking around for her, but it's hard to see her in the sea of students in the large cafeteria. I'm hoping to spot her soon before the bell rings for recess. I don't think that running around on the playground and not looking where I'm going will work this time.

I've been thinking about what I'm to say to her too. I wrote down a few things to say to her last night before I went to bed. I read those today on my way to school and a little in class before lunch too.

I look to my right when I see something and there she is, sitting right next to me. I gasp and jump a little, and start to choke on my food. She slaps my back to help me and give her the thumbs up to get her to stop.

"H-Hi, Victoria." I greet her as I drink some milk to wash down my lunch that I nearly choked on.

"Hi, Robert. Been avoiding me?" She asks me. I give her a confused look. _Avoiding her? I'm not avoiding her. What's she talking about?_

"No, why would you think I was avoiding you?" I ask her, confused.

"I'm just teasing you, silly." She replies and smiles at me. _Oh, she was joking._ I think as I blush a little.

"How are you doing today?" I ask.

"Ok, how's your crush?" She replies. _Uh oh, she knows. I don't know how, but she does._

"I uh, don't know what you're talking about." I lie in response. _Hopefully she won't tell I'm lying._

"Robert, I know you like me. I like you too. We have crushes on each other. It's alright." She says, putting her hand on my shoulder to calm me down. Her hand is warm on my shoulder and I get a tingly feeling there. _She knows. So much for lying._ I sigh and I look at her embarrassed.

"This is so embarrassing." I state.

"I know. I'm kinda upset myself." She says. I look at her. She doesn't look upset at all. She seems fine to me. _Wait, is she lying to me?_

"You don't look upset. Are you lying to me?" I ask her.

"No! I'm not lying. I told my mommy about what happened at recess with you yesterday and she says that we like each other a lot."

"So why aren't you looking upset as you say you are?" I ask.

"I'm not good at showing my feelings." She replies. I still think she's lying.

"You're a girl!" I say as if it were obvious, which it should be. She looks at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" She asks.

"Girls are always feeling and crying and whining and they're always showing their feelings." I tell her and she slaps my shoulder. _Ow! What'd I do?_ She gets up and walks away. I try to call her but she doesn't respond. I watch her run out of the cafeteria. I slump in my chair a bit. _What have I done?_

**Andre's POV**

I'm feeling really weird today. I want to talk to Caterina, to explain what happened yesterday, but at the same time, I don't want to be anywhere near her. This crush is killing me here!

I'm eating alone in the cafeteria. I'm trying to distract myself from what happened yesterday. I fi see her again, I don't know what will happen.

"Hi, Andre." I hear a girl's voice. _Uh oh._ I look up and there's Caterina, smiling at me with a tray of food. She looks a little upset and embarrassed but she's doing better than I am. I'm blushing like crazy now.

"Hi, Caterina. Sit down." I say, offering her to sit in front of me. Instead she comes and sits next to me. _Oh dear, I did not see that coming._

"How are ya?" she asks as she starts to eat her lunch. I stutter a little bit, trying to think of what to say.

"I'm fine; how are you doing?" I ask her.

"You're not fine. I'm not fine." She replies.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't need to play, Andre. We like each other. We have crushes on each other." She says.

"Oh. Um, I don't know what to say to that." I tell her truthfully. I really don't.

"Do you like me like me or _like_ me like me?" she asks.

"What do you mean, Caterina?" I ask her confused.

"Do you like me as a friend or as a best friend?" she explains.

"I don't know. Do you like me as a friend or best friend?" I ask her in turn. She thinks about this before saying.

"As a best friend."

"I like you as a best friend too." I say a little too quickly.

"Are you just saying that to be nice or do you mean it?" she asks me in a serious tone. _OH, don't tell me I blew it._

"No, I really mean it, Caterina. I like you a lot. You're funny, you're nice; you're…cute." I reply quickly. She blushes like crazy at the last statement.

"You think I'm cute?" she asks in a low voice.

"I _know_ you're cute." I tell her, smiling. She smiles back.

"I _know_ you're cute as well, Andre." She replies. I laugh a little.

"Uh, do you maybe want to hang out some time over the weekend or after school some day?" I ask her.

"I'd love that, Andre. Thanks for asking." She replies as she continues to eat her lunch.

"Cool." I say. I take a deep breath as I continue to eat with the cute girl next to me. _That went well._

**Caterina's POV**

I'm sure you understand what's going on with me today. If you don't, well… The point is, I want to see Andre and tell him about this crush thing I have on him and hope he says the same about me.

I'm in the cafeteria with my tray of lunch and I'm looking for Andre. I find him easily. He's sitting alone and is busy eating. I walk up to him and stand in front of him.

"Hi, Andre." I greet with a smile. He looks up and starts blushing, causing me to blush a little.

"Hi, Caterina. Sit down." He says, offering me to sit in front of him. _I don't think so._ I move around and sit next to him. He looks embarrassed that I did that.

"How are ya?" I ask as I start eating my lunch. He stutters a little, trying to find his words. "I'm fine; how are you doing?" He replies.

"You're not fine. I'm not fine." I answer. _We have crushes on each other. How can we be fine?_

"What do you mean?"

"You don't need to play, Andre. We like each other. We have crushes on each other." I tell him simply.

"Oh. Um, I don't know what to say to that." He replies. I wouldn't know what to say to that either.

"Do you like me like me or _like_ me like me?" I ask.

"What do you mean, Caterina?" he asks, confused.

"Do you like me as a friend or as a best friend?" I explain.

"I don't know. Do you like me as a friend or best friend?" He says. I think about his question a little.

"As a best friend."

"I like you as a best friend too." He says a little too quickly. _Is he lying to me?_

"Are you just saying that to be nice or do you mean it?" I ask him in a serious tone of voice. _If you are, forget that I want to be friends._

"No, I really mean it, Caterina. I like you a lot. You're funny, you're nice; you're…cute." He says quickly to cover up his mistake. I blush badly at his last comment. _He thinks I'm cute! Wait, thinks?!_

"You think I'm cute?" I ask him in a low voice.

"I _know_ you're cute." He tells me with a bright smile. I smile back, just as brightly.

"I _know_ you're cute as well, Andre." I reply. He laughs a little. _He really is cute._

"Uh, do you maybe want to hang out some time over the weekend or after school some day?" he asks me. _Wow, cool! I'd love to do that!_

"I'd love that, Andre. Thanks for asking." I reply and I go back to eating.

"Cool." He says, taking a deep breath and continuing to eat his lunch. I smile into my food. _I just made a new friend._

**Jadelyn's POV**

Even though I'm not sweating at the moment and I haven't sweated all day, I'm more terrified today than I was yesterday. This really sucks at the moment.

Beckett and I have been avoiding each other all day. I've stared at him a few times in class, and I think he's stared back at me a few times himself, but we're ignoring each other. Like complete strangers. And strangers are bad.

Beckett and I are avoiding each other now and its lunch time. I'm in the cafeteria eating my lunch by myself in the same spot I was sitting yesterday when Beckett and I met. Beckett is nearby. He's sitting at the same table as I am, but he's on the opposite end, facing the stage. He's trying very hard to not look at me. He's really scared and nervous. I hope I didn't do anything wrong. I really like him. He's nice and we have sooo much in common.

I'm waiting for him to come over and talk to me. If he doesn't soon, I'll go and tell him about my crush on him and hope he takes it well, otherwise I'll destroy a future friendship with a cute boy. Aw, man, I can't stop blushing! Since I'm pale, this makes it very obvious.

I'm busy eating my lunch when I hear something in front of me. I look up and Beckett is sitting across from me. _Thank you for coming over._

"Hi, Beckett." I say nervously.

"Hi, Jadelyn. How are you?" He asks.

"Uh, that's a good question that I don't really have the answer to." I reply. He nods, understanding what I'm going through.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you, it's just I-"He starts to say, but he looks down. I then reach across the table over the food tray and take his hands in mine and squeeze them a bit. He looks up and I give him an understanding look. _I know what you're going through; you're not alone, Beckett._

"I'm sorry too. I'm guessing you told your parents about me?" I ask. He nods, so I continue. "Well, my mommy says that you and I have a crush on each other and that we should talk to each other about it."

"That's what my mommy told me yesterday. But it doesn't mean that I should've avoided you all day and I'm really sorry about that. I'm just scared." He whispers. I squeeze his hands a little.

The bell rings as recess starts. After the cafeteria clears out, it's just Beckett and me, sitting alone together. I let go of his hands and they feel cold without him. Weird.

"Uh, do you want to go outside to talk?" He offers. I don't think that's a good idea.

"No, we're alone, let's stay here." I say.

"Ok. You wanna go first?" he asks.

"Let me come over." I reply, standing up. I walk over to him and sit down next to him, the bench between my legs. I look at him as he turns to face me. He looks like his trying to figure out what to say.

"My mommy told me to ask you if you wanted to hang out some time after school or over the weekend. So, uh, do you want to get together some time?" He asks me nervously. I give him a curious look.

"I'd like that a lot, Beckett. Thanks for asking." I reply, smiling brightly. _How sweet of you._

"I'm glad you want to, Jadelyn." he replies. I giggles a little more and blush.

"I really like you, Beckett." I say, blushing even more.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed." He teases me and I giggle again.

"Yes, but you got the cheeks." I say and I reach over and pinch one of his cheeks. He lets me for some reason. But, why did I have to do that? We laugh a little.

We are looking into each other's eyes. For some reason, we're sitting in embarrassed silence. We aren't blushing, so I don't know what's going on here.

_**Lean in.**_

___Huh? Lean in? Why do you want me to do that?_

_**Trust me ok? Lean in.**_

___Why should I trust you?_

_**I'm your subconscious.**_

___My what?_

_**Subconscious. Your deepest thoughts and feelings.**_

___Ok? You want me to lean in?_

_**Yes.**_

___Alright?_

For some reason, I listen to my subconscious thingy in my head. I start to lean in a little. I keep my eyes locked with his. I don't know why I'm leaning in or what I'm supposed to do, but I keep going. Beckett starts to lean in too.

We get closer to each other. I reach over and put my hands on his shoulders and pull him in. My lips are parted and I keep looking into his beautiful brown eyes. I can feel his warm breath on my face and it tingles me a bit.

What's going on here? Why am I leaning in? Why am I trusting the voice in my head? We get closer and our lips touch each other.

It's hard to explain. But it was the most wonderful thing ever! His lips are soft and we both make them shape little 'o's as we stay there for what feels like forever.

We break apart and lean back and look into each other's eyes for a few. That was my first kiss. I liked it. I let go of his shoulders.

"I'm sorry." I gasp. I don't know what happened to me. I just had to kiss him. But, why?

"Why are you sorry?" He asks.

"I couldn't help myself. I just had to do that." I say, bringing my hands to my face and I start crying. I don't know what got over me. I just had to do that. As wonderful it may have been, it felt really wrong and what if I hurt this friendship we sorta have?

"Don't cry." Beckett begs me. I continue crying and he tries to take my hands away from my face as I cry harder. "Jadelyn, please." He manages to remove my hands and holds them, but I don't care. Then I feel his lips on mine again and I stop crying. _He's kissing me! On his own too!_ I start kissing him back. He pulls back and I give him a watery smile as I put my hands in front of my neck.

"I really like you, Jadelyn. I don't want to hurt you." He says.

"I like you too, Beckett." I reply, smiling. He leans in and kisses my cheek, causing me to giggle again. The bell rings and we stand up and walk back to class holding hands. _YES!_

**Beckett's POV**

I'm really terrified today. It's only my second day at school, and I feel worse today than I did yesterday. That's gotta be a record. I saw Jadelyn today obviously. We have the same teacher, but for some reason, we avoided each other the entire day. I hope I didn't scare her yesterday.

I'm eating my lunch at the same table where Jadelyn and I met yesterday. Jadelyn's sitting in the same spot as she did yesterday. I'm sitting on the opposite end of the table, facing the large stage. I'm trying hard to not look at her. My cheeks are blushing like crazy and I can't control it. She looks at me every now and then, which causes me to blush more so than I am now. Aw, man this sucks. I want to get up, walk over to her, and tell her that I have this crush on her and hope she doesn't run away, screaming.

My mind is at war, trying to decide what to do.

_**Go and talk to her, Beckett. Tell her about the crush.**_

___And if that scares her, then what?_

_**You'll never know unless you go over and talk to her.**_

___I don't know. Seems like a bad idea._

_**She's a cute girl. You said it yourself to her yesterday.**_

___After _she_ said that _I_ was cute. She called me cute first, remember._

_**Just get up and talk to her already!**_

___Fine!_

I get up almost absently with my tray and walk over to where Jadelyn is. She's not looking at me at the moment, so it's not as bad now as it was when she was looking at me every few seconds.

I walk to where I sat across her yesterday and sit down with my tray. She looks up and blushes, turning her pale skin pink.

"Hi, Beckett." She says nervously.

"Hi, Jadelyn. How are you?" I reply.

"Uh, that's a good question that I don't really have the answer to." She says. I nod, showing her I understand.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you, it's just I-"I start to say, looking down. She then reaches across the table and puts her hands on mine, warming them up somehow. I look up and see she has an understanding look on her face.

"I'm sorry too. I'm guessing you told your parents about me?" she says. I nod and she continues. "Well, my mommy says that you and I have a crush on each other and that we should talk to each other about it."

"That's what my mommy told me yesterday. But it doesn't mean that I should've avoided you all day and I'm really sorry about that. I'm just scared." I whisper. She squeezes my hands a little.

The bell rings as recess starts. After the cafeteria clears out, it's just Jadelyn and me, sitting alone together. _Oh no, I'm alone with a cute girl. What do I do?_ She lets go of my hands and they feel cold without her warmth. _This is crazy!_

"Uh, do you want to go outside to talk?" I offer.

"No, we're alone, let's stay here." She replies.

"Ok. You wanna go first?" I ask her.

"Let me come over." She says, standing up. She walks over and sits on my right. I turn to face her. We both are facing each other, the long seat of the table between our legs. I scratch the back of my neck a little, trying to think of what to say.

"My mommy told me to ask you if you wanted to hang out some time after school or over the weekend. So, uh, do you want to get together some time?" I ask her nervously. She looks at me, curiosity in her face.

"I'd like that a lot, Beckett. Thanks for asking." She says with a smile.

"I'm glad you want to, Jadelyn." I reply. She giggles a little and blushes more.

"I really like you, Beckett." She says, blushing more.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed." I tease her and she giggles more.

"Yes, but you got the cheeks." She says and reaches across and pinches one of my cheeks and for some reason, I didn't stop her. I allowed it. We laugh a little.

We look into each other's eyes and search them for a long time. Jadelyn then started leaning in slowly. I don't know what she's doing, but for some weird reason, I'm leaning in slowly too.

We got closer and closer to each other and I can't move a muscle. I don't know what's happening or what's going to happen, but I don't think I want to know. But, I can't move my legs. I can only lean in closer to her. She raises her hands and they both go on my shoulders to bring us closer that much sooner. What's going on here, people?

Her lips are slightly parted. We're still looking into each other's eyes. We're practically right on top of each other. I can feel her warm breath on my face and it warms me up a little. Our heads lean in some more and our lips touch each other.

It was...wonderful. I, uh, can't really describe it. But, it was wonderful. Her lips were warm, wet, and soft. Our lips were touching each other and Jadelyn and I made little 'o's with them as they stayed in contact with each other.

We break apart and lean back. That was my first kiss. It felt wrong, but it felt right. We look into each other's eyes for a few. She let go of my shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Jadelyn said all of the sudden. Well, gasped is closer to what she did.

"Why are you sorry?" I ask her.

"I couldn't help myself. I just had to do that." She said. She brings her hands to her face and I think I hear her crying. _Oh, no. Please don't cry!_

"Don't cry." I tell her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She cries, alright. I hope I didn't do anything. I try to lower her hands from her face so I can talk to her. "Jadelyn, please…" she keeps crying. I manage to take her hands away from her face, but she continues to cry. I hold her hands and squeeze them a little, but that doesn't work. _Oh, I have no choice._ I think as I lean forward and kiss her again. She stops crying and she kisses me back almost immediately. I pull back and look in her eyes. They're red and watery from crying, but she looks happy. She has a watery smile on her lips and her hands are touching each other in front of her neck.

"I really like you, Jadelyn. I don't want to hurt you." I tell her.

"I like you too, Beckett." She says with a smile. I lean in and kiss her on her cheek and she giggles. The bell rings and we get up and walk back to class holding hands.

**Chapter 6. Comment or review plz. Betcha never saw that coming, didya? I'm thinking of doing weekly updates, as sorta a TV show format. Idk. What do you think?**


	8. Try Again

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. This chapter is from Victoria's and Robert's POVs when mentioned.**

**Chapter 7**

**Try Again**

_After school._

**Victoria's POV**

I was upset for the rest of the day. I cried throughout the rest of lunch and all of recess. I managed to pull myself together in time for class to resume. I walked back to class from my hiding place and just stayed silent for the rest of the day. I was willing the day to be over so that I could run home. It did and I ran out of class to the bus stop to meet Trina. I had kept a straight face during the ride home, so Trina wouldn't know that I was crying.

We got home and Trina went upstairs to do homework. Mommy was watching TV in the living room.

"How was school, Vicki?" she asks me. I sit down next to her and I start crying again. She immediately wraps her arms around me and hugs me tightly. "What happened?"

"I-I t-talked t-t-to R-Rob-ert and h-he w-was s-s-so mean t-to m-me!" I wailed. Mommy hugs me tighter and rubs my back.

"What's going on?" Trina's voice comes from behind us. She's probably at the top of the stairs. She heard me and came running.

"She talked to a kid and he was mean to her." Mommy replied.

"Do you want me to beat him up, baby sis?" Trina asks me.

"Trina!" Mommy shouts at her.

"What? I'm just asking."

"No thanks, Trina. I'm fine." I reply. Mommy continues to rub my arms soothing me.

"Well, if you need me, you know where I am." Trina said before leaving upstairs again. Mommy looks at me.

"Talk to me, Vicki." She said. I sniffled and coughed a little so that I could tell her what happened at lunch today.

"Well, I went to talk to Robert at lunch today and I told him about our crushes on each other. I gasp out. Mommy nods in response and rubbed my arms to encourage me to continue. "I told him that I was a little upset about this and he didn't believe me and was so mean about it that I ran away. I cried throughout recess." I finish and start crying again. Mommy started hugging me again.

"Shh, it's alright baby," she said softly.

"No, it's not!" I wailed. "I liked him for some reason; he's cute and at first he was nice, but he's not."

"Well, then that's his loss then isn't it?"

"Maybe, but I feel responsible for keeping him away. I kinda did lie about being upset about this whole crush thing and I pushed him away." I reply.

"Why'd you do that, then?" she asks.

"I was scared!" I shout back.

"Use your indoor voice." She says calmly.

"Sorry, I was scared is all." I reply in a quiet voice.

"Well, what you should do tomorrow at lunch or whenever you next see Robert, tell him your sorry about what happened today and talk to him and see what happens." She explains to me. I think for a minute, then nod. She smiles brightly and pulls me in for a hug, which I receive happily and hug her back. "I love you, Vicki and no matter what happens with him, I'll be proud of you."

"Thanks, mommy. I love you too." I reply and she squeezes me tighter. I sigh and hope that tomorrow will go a little better.

**Robert's POV**

_I feel really bad. I think I made her cry. But, she lied to me first. Why would she lie to me though? Did she really like me and was afraid I was going to push her away? Oh, what if she was and I already ruined it?_ I think as I walk inside my house after getting dropped off by the bus. I drop my backpack and walk into the kitchen to get some chocolate milk. Mommy's in the kitchen, eating toast and drinking tea while she reads a book.

"Hi mommy." I greet her with a weak smile. She looks up and smiles at me, but she drops her smile when she sees my sad smile.

"What's wrong, honey?" she asks me, closing her book.

"Remember that girl I told you about yesterday? Victoria?" I reply. She nods slowly. "Well, we talked to each other and I may have made her cry."

"What did you do to her that made her so upset?" Mommy said loudly. I whimper a little and take a step back.

"She said she was upset about this whole crush thing and she didn't look upset about it so I kinda yelled at her and she ran." I whisper.

"You practically called her a liar! Of course she ran away! What were you thinking Robert?!" mommy yells at me.

"I don't know! I was scared! So I guess I pushed her away out of fear!" I yell back at her.

"Still, you called her a liar and that made her upset; you probably blew it." Mommy groans at me.

"What do I do?" I ask her, desperate. _Please tell me I can fix this. I like her for some reason and she's cute._

"Well, if it's not too late, talk to her when you next see her and hope that she won't punch you."

"Don't say that!" I tell her.

"Well, you kinda deserve it if you were mean to her today."

"But, I didn't mean to be!"

"You'll know more when you talk to her. I seriously recommend you do that tomorrow the moment you see her."

"What does recommend mean?" I ask her.

"Urging." She replies.

"Ok, I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"There you go. I hope you didn't hurt her too much." Mommy replies.

"I do too." I say. _Tomorrow's gonna suck._

**Victoria's POV**

_The next day at recess. Playground near the slides._

_Come on, where are you? I know you're here, Robert. _I think as I walk around the playground nearby the slides to find him. I'm near the slides at the moment and I'm going to the monkey bars afterwards. I still don't' see him and it's starting to make me a little nervous. I hope he didn't skip school.

The day has gone by pretty fast. It's good and bad. It's good, that I'll be home that much sooner. And it's bad because it means that I might run into Robert today. I want to talk to him to get it over with, but I don't want to do it because I think it'll go bad like yesterday did.

I leave the slides and go around to the money bars. The monkey bars are part of a playhouse combo with the monkey bars, tic-tac-toe squares, trapeze rings and a single slide. All of it is covered by a green canvas raised by brown poles around the playhouse. It gives the area shade and a brownish tint when it's really sunny. It also covers it from rain. Because of the shade, it's a little hard to see everyone there.

I get under the shade and feel a little better in the cool shadows. I avoid the other kids running around. I still can't find him. My shoulder is tapped on and I turn around and there he is. His eyes are wide with terror and he looks like he's about to cry.

"Hi, Robert." I say cautiously.

"Hi." He whispers back.

"What's up?" I ask him.

"Look, I wanted to say sorry for what I said to you yesterday; I was so scared that I pushed you away out of defense." He says, shyly and looks down. I smile at him and raise his chin with a finger. He looks at me worriedly.

"It's ok. I was scared too." I reply. He smiles weakly at me.

"Uh, wanna take a walk and talk about this?" he offers. I smile and nod my head and we walk away from the covered playhouse. We pass the swings as we go to the grassy area where kids usually play kickball and soccer. There's a game of both going on now and we walk along the edge between the sidewalk and grass.

"So, what are we going to do?" I ask him.

"About our crushes on each other? No clue." He replies.

"My mommy said that we should hang out together after school and over the weekends some time. What do you think about that?" I say. He stops walking and looks at me. "What?"

"You want to hang out?" he asks.

"Yeah." I reply.

"With me? A boy and you, a girl?" he says, pointing out our genders.

"Yup." I said with a big smile.

"Is that good idea?" He asks, worried. I nod in response and he takes a deep breath. I put my hand on his shoulder and he gasps a little.

"Yeah, it's a good idea." I reply, smiling.

We walk around a little, talking with each other. The field is a little higher than the rest of the playground so we have to climb a little hill. We continue talking and walking around the field avoiding the kids playing soccer. Eventually we end up chasing each other around the edge of the field near the ledge. I manage to tackle him and we roll downhill together and we land near the playground edge, grass in our messy hair. We giggle as we lay on the grass. Robert pokes me in the side of my stomach, causing me to flinch and giggle in response. I poke him back and he giggles as well. We start tickling each other and start rolling around a little more.

He manages to roll on top of me and starts to tickle me. I laugh out loud and manage to roll, throwing him off me. I roll on top of him and start to tickle him to get back at him. He manages to get me off him and I land next to him and we both laugh until we can control ourselves, which took a while to happen.

We stand up and brush the grass off our clothes and out of our hair. It was hard to get the grass out of our hair. My hair is longer than his so it caught more than his. His curly hair caught quite a few blades of grass and it took him a while to fish them out.

"That was fun." I state after we get the grass out of our hair finally.

"Yeah that was. We should hang out together some day, Victoria." He replies.

"Yeah we should. I'd really enjoy that."

"Yup. This wasn't bad. I was worried it would be worse than yesterday."

"So did I. But, I'm glad it worked out in the end."

"Me too." He says with a big smile. I smile back at him. The bell rings and we say goodbye to each other and walk back to our own classes.

I'm glad today went well. I think I'll like being his friend. I hope he feels the same about me.

**Robert's POV**

_The next day at recess. Playground near the monkey bars._

_Should I talk to her or not?_ I think as I wander close to the money bars. I'm under the covered playhouse trying to stay cool. I think I'm sweating a little. I seem to be getting warmer for some reason. Probably because of this situation with Victoria. I'm upset that I hurt her yesterday. I hope she doesn't punch me in the face. That would really hurt and I don't want her to get in trouble for it. I wouldn't feel the same.

The day has been kinda slow for me. I guess it's because I need to talk to Victoria so badly. I don't know when she comes to school or who her teacher is. The only time I've seen her is at lunch. I'll have to ask her when she gets to school so we can talk before school starts together some time.

I just wander aimlessly avoiding the other playing children as I think. I almost collide with a kid or two when I'm not paying attention. That's when I see her. I gasp a little and squeak as I start panicking. She seems to be looking for me but can't find me. So I walk up to her from behind, trying to control my emotions. I tap her on the shoulder gently and she turns around. Her face is blank and she doesn't smile at all. _Gulp._

"Hi, Robert." She says in a cautious tone. She's clearly still upset about yesterday.

"Hi." I reply in a quiet tone.

"What's up?" she asks.

"Look, I wanted to say sorry for what I said to you yesterday; I was so scared that I pushed you away out of defense." I reply shyly and I look down. She then raises my head by putting a finger under my chin and she smiles at me.

"It's ok. I was scared too." She says. I smile at her weakly.

"Uh, wanna take a walk and talk about this?" I say. She smiles and nods and we walk away from the covered playhouse. We pass the swings as we go to the grassy area where kids usually play kickball and soccer. There's a game of both going on now and we walk along the edge between the sidewalk and grass.

"So, what are we going to do?" she asks.

"About our crushes on each other? No clue." I say in response. _No clue what so ever. Who knows anything about what to do here?_

"My mommy said that we should hang out together after school and over the weekends some time. What do you think about that?" she says. I stop walking and look at her she looks back at me. "What?"

"You want to hang out?" I ask her rather quickly.

"Yeah." she replies.

"With me? A boy and you, a girl?" I says, pointing out our genders. _I mean, this is kinda weird for both of our genders. What will the other boys think of me if they see me with a girl?_

"Yup." She says with a bright smile.

"Is that good idea?" I ask her and she nods and I take a deep breath. She puts a hand on my shoulder and I gasp a little.

"Yeah, it's a good idea." she replies with her pretty smile.

We walk around a little, talking with each other. The field is a little higher than the rest of the playground so we have to climb a little hill. We continue talking and walking around the field avoiding the kids playing soccer. Eventually we end up chasing each other around the edge of the field near the ledge. I manage to tackle him and we roll downhill together and we land near the playground edge, grass in our messy hair. We giggle as we lay on the grass. Victoria pokes me in the side of my stomach, causing me to flinch and giggle in response. I poke her back to get back at her and she giggles as well. We start tickling each other and start rolling around a little more.

I roll on top of her and start to tickle her, causing her to laugh loudly. She rolls me off her and pins me down and starts to tickle me and I laugh as I squirm under her. I manage to get her off me and she lands next to me on the ground and we both laugh until we can control ourselves, which took a while to happen. I think my eyes are watering a little.

We stand up and brush the grass off our clothes and out of our hair. It was hard to get the grass out of our hair. My curly hair makes it hard for me to run my fingers through without getting caught. Her hair is short but is longer than mine and has more grass than mine hair does.

"That was fun." Victoria states after we finally get the grass out of our hair.

"Yeah that was. We should hang out together some day, Victoria." I respond.

"Yeah we should. I'd really enjoy that."

"Yup. This wasn't bad. I was worried it would be worse than yesterday."

"So did I. But, I'm glad it worked out in the end."

"Me too." I reply with a big smile. She smiles back. The bell rings and we say goodbye to each other and walk back to our own classes.

_That went well._ I think as I walk back to class with a grin on my face.

**Chapter 7. Comment or review plz. I want to beat the 9 reviews I got for Love Darkness 2. C'mon, you know you want to.**


	9. A Little Like This

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. This chapter is from Caterina's and Andre's POVs when mentioned.**

**Chapter 8**

**A Little Like This**

_After school._

**Andre's POV**

So today went well as I hoped it would. I'm surprised that Caterina didn't freak out about our crushes on each other. I was surprised when she said she has a crush on me too. But I'm glad because that means she likes me. I like her too. I think she's very cute. Her brown hair is long and very soft. She is slightly tanned and has a little red in her cheeks. She has the biggest brown eyes that I have ever seen. She's really good looking. I'm glad that we're going to hang out some time.

I'm getting off the bus at the stop down the street where I live. I'm walking home now after saying bye to the others. Daddy will be home today instead of mommy. They have different working hours. I think I should tell him about my crush on Caterina. Mommy most likely told him when I wasn't around yesterday, but it's a good idea to tell him myself.

I walk up to the front door of my house and pull out my house key. I unlock the door and walk inside the house into the little hallway. I put my bag down and walk to the kitchen. Daddy is there reading a book and drinking water from a glass. He looks up when I walk in.

"Hi, son. How was school?" he asks, smiling.

"It was good, we learned about mixed colors." I reply, sitting down across him. He nods and takes a sip from his water and looks at me as though he was waiting for me to say something. "What?"

"Did you talk to Caterina today?" he asks. _I knew it._

"Yeaaah." I reply.

"Annnnd?" he pushes, smiling more.

"We might hang out some time." I reply.

"That's good son, hopefully her parents will feel the same." He says, smiling, showing off his really white teeth.

"Well, she told me that she told her mommy about our crushes on each other so I think they'll be ok." I tell him and he nods. "You probably want me to tell you why I didn't tell you about it?"

"Not if you don't want to." Daddy says. "Your mother told me anyways. She said you were upset, embarrassed, and cried about it, so I figured you didn't want to go through it again."

"Oh yeah, I guess so. Thanks." I reply.

"You're welcome son." He says. I get up and walk over to him and give him a hug which he happily returned. "You have homework?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, get started on it and I'll make you a snack."

"Yay!" I cheer, letting go of him. He laughs and pats my back. I skip to the hall where my backpack is. I grab it and go back to the kitchen and sit down. I open my bag and pull out my homework. Our homework is to fill in spaces on many pictures of animals using the color named in the empty space. I sit there coloring with my crayons while daddy makes me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mmm!

I have my sandwich and finish my homework and daddy and I go outside in our large backyard and play catch. We play for a while and we have fun. We go back inside to watch some TV afterwards.

Mommy comes home later in the evening and we have chicken for dinner and ice cream for dessert. Sugar-free ice cream to be exact. It's not very tasty, but it has some flavor to it, that I can eat it. Afterwards, I get ready for bed and the inspection of my mouth. I pass and I'm free to go to sleep. Mommy and daddy kiss me goodnight and leave my room after they tucked me in. I fall asleep shortly afterwards with a smile on my face, thinking about Caterina.

**Caterina's POV**

It's been an interesting day. I am walking home with Joey after getting off the bus. I think Andre and I will be best friends!

We're walking up the driveway to the house, where Joey pulls out his house key and unlocks the door. We both step inside to the living room. Mommy is there, watching the news on the TV. She turns and smiles when she sees us.

"Hey, kids. How was school?" she asks sweetly as we go to her for hugs and kisses.

"It was good, got some homework that I want to get started, before Carl gets here." Joey replies, before he leaves for his room. I sit down next to mommy and leaned my head on her shoulder.

"Well?" she asks. I look up at her to see her giving me a look, like she was waiting for something.

"Well, what?" I ask.

"Did you and Andre talk?" she replies.

"Yeah and we may want to hang out this weekend." I tell her. She smiles wider.

"That's good, Caterina. You should get his number and address so you can go to his house someday."

"Yup." I smile at her.

"You got homework?" she asks.

"Yes I do."

"Well, get to it so you can watch _Barney & Friends_." She replies.

"Yay!" I say, jumping up and grabbing my bag and going upstairs to my room. I love _Barney & Friends_! It's my favorite show! I pull out my homework and look at my pink alarm clock. I have 30 minutes to do it before the show starts and I _have_ to sing the song.

I work on my homework silently, looking at the clock every now and then to check the time. I try not to rush myself with the homework, I want to do well and to learn all this stuff, but I need to have fun.

**Andre's POV**

_The next day at school, before school begins. Near the main building._

I'm walking around the school looking for Caterina. We should've set up a place to meet today so we can talk about doing something over the weekend. Mommy and daddy are ok with my hanging out with her and they want me to do so to make friends. As long as something weird happens like our first day at school at lunch, I think we'll be pretty close friends.

I woke up this morning a little excited about talking to her so that we can hang out sometime. I was hoping to talk to her before school starts, but now that I'm here and I can't find her, I'm getting a little nervous. I guess I could talk to her after school or during lunch.

I walk towards the cafeteria in hopes that she'll be around here. Since its still chilly outside, a lot of kids are in the sunlight to stay warm. Well, what little sunlight there is to be exact. It's slightly grey outside with the sun kinda low.

That's when I spot her. I wish she had different colored hair so that it would be easy to spot her. She's standing on front of the cafeteria, facing the playground, looking around for me. I walk towards her, trying to dodge the flow of kids walking in front of me, some bumping into my shoulder. I come to her from her side, when she's not looking and I put my hand on her shoulder. She turns to me and smiles weakly, she looks upset.

"Hi, Caterina. Is everything alright?" I ask her carefully.

"No, everything is not alright." She replies, sadly and she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. I'm surprised by her sudden hug, but I hug her back as she starts crying a little. I look around, hoping no one I know sees us. This is a bad situation.

"What happened?" I ask her. She lets go and I do as well, she stands straight and wipes tears from her face. Her face is red and her eyes are too from the tears.

"Yesterday afternoon, my parents took my older brother, Joey, to the doctors and he was diagnosed with ADHD, I forget what it stands for." She explains.

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds bad." I reply sadly. It sounds really bad if Caterina is this upset about it.

"I don't exactly remember what they said but it means it'll be hard for him to concentrate on a lot of things and his brain doesn't produce much of…something; I forget what that was too, besides I couldn't pronounce it, but it's got all of us upset about it." She says and starts crying again. I haven't met her brother, but it seems they are pretty close to each other.

"I'm so, so sorry, Caterina." I say and I hug her again. She hugs back almost instantly.

"Don't be. My parents and Joey are seeing doctors now to see what they can do about it. They say there's no cure for it, only medicine to help fight it. I didn't want to come here today, but my parents forced me to." She says in my arms.

"Uh, so I guess you don't want to hang out this weekend?" I ask her. She shakes her head while she still hugging me.

"Uh, why don't you come over to my place after school?" she says. I pull out of the hug because I wasn't sure if I heard her right.

"You want me to come over?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I don't know if they'll be there when I get back and I don't want to be alone. Please?" she says. Her watery eyes looking in mine, begging me.

"Sure, I don't think my parents will mind. I'll have to call them first though." I reply and she smiles and hugs me again. I hug her back and rub my hands on her small back.

After that, the bell rang and we went to our classes. Before that, Caterina told me which bus she rides so that I can ride with her. I asked my teacher if I could call my parents and she let me. I called home and mommy answered. I told her what happened with Caterina and that she asked me to go to her place after school. Mommy agreed and told me to call her when I get to Caterina's place. I told her I would and hung up.

The day went by slowly. I barely paid attention in class or in the activities. My mind was too busy thinking about Caterina and making her feel better.

**Caterina's POV**

_The next day at school, before school begins. In front of the cafeteria._

I'm standing waiting to spot Andre. I'm in front of the cafeteria, turning left and right to find him, but I can't see him in the sea of kids. Some are my height, some are even shorter than me, and most of them are taller. Andre's not that much taller than me, but he's not tall enough to be seen.

I'm still upset about last night's events. I don't want to be here. Joey isn't here because mommy and daddy need to take him to the doctors, but I had to go to school today.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn to see Andre smiling at me. I smile back weakly at him.

"Hi, Caterina. Is everything alright?" He asks.

"No, everything is not alright." I reply and before I know what I'm doing, I'm hugging him tightly. He seems a little surprised by this but he hugs me back, his body warming me up. I start to cry though.

"What happened?" He asks. I let him go and wipe tears from my burning eyes and sigh.

"Yesterday afternoon, my parents took my older brother, Joey, to the doctors and he was diagnosed with ADHD, I forget what it stands for." I tell him. He looks confused.

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds bad." He sadly replies. I nod.

"I don't exactly remember what they said but it means it'll be hard for him to concentrate on a lot of things and his brain doesn't produce much of…something; I forget what that was too, besides I couldn't pronounce it, but it's got all of us upset about it." I say and start crying again.

"I'm so, so sorry, Caterina." I hear him say and he hugs me. I hug back almost instantly.

"Don't be. My parents and Joey are seeing doctors now to see what they can do about it. They say there's no cure for it, only medicine to help fight it. I didn't want to come here today, but my parents forced me to." I say into his body.

"Uh, so I guess you don't want to hang out this weekend?" He asks. I shake my head against his body.

"Uh, why don't you come over to my place after school?" I offer. He pulls out of the hug to look at me.

"You want me to come over?" He repeats.

"Yeah, I don't know if they'll be there when I get back and I don't want to be alone. Please?" I say, my watery eyes begging him to.

"Sure, I don't think my parents will mind. I'll have to call them first though." He says and I smile and hug him once more. He hugs me back and I can feel his warm hands rubbing my back.

I told him which bus I ride and left for class after the bell rang. The rest of the day went by painfully slow. All I could think about was Joey and his diagnosis and about Andre and I hope this doesn't put a strain on our future friendship.

**Chapter 8. Comment or review plz. Sorry for taking so long, writer's block and I had a crazy couple of weeks at work. I might be able to get another chapter in soon. I wanted Joey to be diagnosed early in the story because, typically children are diagnosed at an early age.**


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